


Faux Fiancés.

by cutenewt



Category: Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them (Movies)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Autistic Newt Scamander, Awkward Romance, Awkward Tension, BAMF Tina Goldstein, Cinnamon Roll Newt Scamander, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, F/M, Fake/Pretend Relationship, Falling In Love, Fluff and Angst, Friends to Lovers, Humor, Hurt/Comfort, Living in Newt Scamander's Suitcase, Movie 2: Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald, Movie 2: Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald Spoilers, Mutual Pining, Newt Scamander is a Dork, Oblivious Newt Scamander, Post-Movie 1: Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, Pre-Movie 2: Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald, Protective Tina Goldstein, Sharing a Bed, Slow Burn, Undercover Missions, Undercover as a Couple
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-18
Updated: 2019-01-29
Packaged: 2019-08-25 14:27:55
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 19
Words: 31,269
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16662627
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cutenewt/pseuds/cutenewt
Summary: When newly appointed Auror Tina is assigned a mission by her boss, Percival Graves, she’s expecting it to be something amongst the ordinary; arresting someone, rescuing someone… etc. But, when she reads the title of the mission her stomach ties itself in quite a knot. And when she reads the other name on the assignment she practically as a heart attack. She has to pretend to be engaged to Newt Scamander?!





	1. Chapter 1

+

 

_1927._

 

Just as Tina settles down into her chair and starts to sift through the papers that are piled neatly in the corner, footsteps start to ascend towards her. She lifts her head, one of her colleagues standing above her clears his throat. “Mr. Graves wants t’see you.” He informs. The witch nods back at him, getting to her feet and making her way towards the elevator. She’s only completed three missions in her two months as an Auror, but each time her boss would report to his superior that she is exceeding expectations. Tina seems to be moving up in the world. _Finally_.

 

She nears the door of Percival Graves’ office, and raises her balled up fist to knock when the door creaks open seemingly at its own will. “Come in, Miss Goldstein.” A voice travels towards her, and she obeys it by stepping inside. The doors shut behind her with a clunk that causes her to flinch a little whilst making her way towards the desk that stands at the back of the room.

 

“You wanted to see me, Sir?” The brunette raises her head, looking him in the eye as he meets her gaze.

 

“Yes… I have a proposition for you. You have continued to meet my guidance and I’m extremely pleased that I chose you as my new Auror after all of the training. I have an assignment that needs completing, and I feel it best to be given to a beginner — a fresh face. Are you following me?” Graves asks, leaning back in his chair.

 

“Uh, I think so, Sir.” Tina nods, her hands behind her back; fingers nervously entwining with the others.

 

He inhales before continuing. “Everything you need to know is in here, and you have until this afternoon to finalise your decision.” The wizard slides a small file across the desk.

 

“I’ll do it, Sir!” Tina exclaims, not meaning to exhibit an outburst but she’s keen to do whatever it takes to climb the ladder of respect amongst her fellow Aurors; unfortunately they still see her as the newcomer, and clearly don’t trust her as much as they do with one another. But, she gets it. She barely trusts anybody.

 

The man before her studies her for a moment, and his brow slowly unfurrows. “Well, have a read of the file and report back to me 16:00 hours, please. That’s when you’ll meet your partner.” He says.

 

Tina’s mind starts to form a minor whirlwind relating to his last few words, wondering who she may be paired up with. She deems it unusual that she won’t be amongst a group of Aurors after only being appointed the promotion for a short amount of time, but at the same time she hopes that this is her true chance to prove herself. She takes the folder from the desk and leaves his office, returning to her desk to read it. The woman picks up her mug of coffee, and unfolds her pair of glasses. Her eyes glance down at the title… “faux fiancé’s?!” Tina blurts out, scattering coffee from the jogged mug all over the front cover. “Oh, shit.” She mutters, putting the mug down and fumbling inside of her pocket for her wand.

 

“Ooh! Who’re you marryin’?!” A higher pitched voice interrupts her moment of slight panic, and Tina knows who it is without even looking.

 

She quickly dries the paper with a simple spell, then looks up at her sister.  “Hey!” Tina exclaims, unable to grab the file in time before the blonde haired witch before her snatched it up and opens it. “ _Queenie_ , That could be top secret y’know.” The brunette huffs.

 

“Newt Scamander… isn’t he the magizooligist who works down on floor one?” She scrunches her nose, tilting her head as if it’ll make sense from a different angle.

 

Tina chokes on her mouthful of coffee at that point, and desperately starts to think of something random so that her younger sister cannot read her mind. Queenie looks up over the file and a mischievous smile begins to form over her rosy, pink lips. “So, you know him huh?” She asks, as her sister grabs the file back with a silent spell.

 

“I mean, I’ve seen him around… yeah.” She mumbles, scanning over the information.

 

_‘In order to get to know one another you shall spend three days at his home… you will then be moving into a downtown apartment, both of you undercover as neighbours to whom we believe to be directly in contact with Gellert Grindelwald who escaped our grasps last year just months after Mr. Scamander aided us with the capture of the dark wizard. We have minor evidence that the woman living there has direct contact with the man; sightings, suggestive letters recovered. But, we cannot move against him without solid evidence and that is where you will come in. You will have constant protection via the pendants you shall wear at all times, should you touch them for more than ten seconds backup will arrive. Once we have enough evidence on this woman we can interrogate her legally, but our main goal is for her to lead us to the dark wizard himself.’_

 

“I mean, he saved New York last year right before you got promoted. Don’t ya remember?” Queenie asks, trying her best to read her sister at this precise moment. “He’s a hero.”

 

“Sure, whatever… don’t you have a job to do?” Tina snaps slightly, her cheeks growing a little pink at the constant talk of Mr. Scamander from the first floor.

 

The wizard has worked there for just over two years, after he moved to New York in 1924 to pursue his book career. ‘Fantastic Beasts and Where To Find Them’ hit bookstores in the middle of last year, just a few months before Grindelwald resurfaced. It had a few moments of fame, but after traveling to a few cities the hype eventually died down to a minimal level of popularity; and in all honesty he was relieved. He’d only been working with MACUSA as a consultant relating to creature laws and trafficking for a mere two months, and after saving the life of many Aurors by disarming Gellert he’d gained quite a reputation in the building. Rumours are always flying around about  the man, and personally Tina tries not to believe gossip but she finds him rather intriguing.

 

“Let me know if you get a fancy ring!” Queenie giggled, flouncing off into the distance before her sister can throw something at her.

 

Tina sighs. “Mrs Scamander, huh?” She whispers, closing the file and leaning back in her chair with a sigh.

 

+

 


	2. Convincing Newt.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> WoW, so thank you for almost 500 reads already! Because of the attention this fic has gotten I’m updating again today :) after this I’m going to try and update once every 2-3 days so I don’t run out of chapters too quickly. I hope you enjoy!

+

 

**_Two days prior…_ **

 

“Easy does it… you’re alright,” Newt whispers softly, carefully bandaging up the wounded ankle of a newly rescued creature; a Unicorn calf. “What should we call you then?” He smiles at the creature, and it nuzzles into his shoulder.

 

Shortly after placing the spare bandages safely back into a drawer, quickened footsteps begin to descend down the stairs to the basement. “Bunty, I thought I told you to head on home?” Newt calls out, not yet turning around.

 

“I was about to, Newt! There’s someone at the door to see you… it’s Graves, the guy from where you work?” The woman peers down over a bannister at him.

 

Newt sighs heavily;  _ what on earth could he want after hours?  _ He gives the unicorn one last scratch under her chin before letting the creature rest, then climbs the steps up to Bunty. Before he can pass her she grabs his wrist in a gentle yet concerned manner, forcing him to stop short. “Newt, you’re bleeding.” The witch comments softly.

 

He brings his index and middle finger up to his neck, coming into contact with a drop of crimson. “Oh, it’s nothing,” Newt chuckles. “Just Beatrice warming up to me, that’s all.”

 

Bunty’s brow furrows in confusion as she releases him from her grip and then hurries upstairs after him. “Who’s Beatrice?” The witch asks, a slight amount of exasperation amongst her tone.

 

“The new calf!” He explains. “She just seemed like a Beatrice to me, that’s a —“ Newt stumbles to a halt outside of the basement door, having almost crashed directly into Mr. Graves. Bunty bumps into Newt’s back after his sudden stop, and the pair direct their gazes ahead of them. “Sorry, Mr… uh, Mr. Graves.” Newt turns momentarily to his assistant again.

 

“I’ll be going,” she nods, walking around the two men and leaving to collect her things together.

 

Once the pair are left alone Graves leads Newt into his living room, where they stand in silence for a moment. “Mr. Scamander, I have a… request to make.” He begins, watching as the Magizoologist stares at his crackling log fire as opposed to the conversation maker’s eyeline.

 

“Yes?” The other male questions, looming close by to the door. He doesn’t offer Percival a seat, so he stays standing.

 

“I have an assignment in preparation and I need somebody who will not be recognised by our… target.” He seems to be selecting his words carefully, but Newt tenses up after his words.

 

He turns away, reaching for the door. “Mr. Graves, I do not want to help you with Grindelwald.”

 

“You have been very valuable to us and I believe that your close relationship with Dumbledore will also help us — he has denied conversation with MACUSA many atime. Grindelwald never saw your face, but he’s aware of many of my Aurors. Do you see why we need your expertise?” Graves continues, clearly not giving up.

 

Mr. Scamander sighs heavily, rubbing his face with his hands. “Mr… Mr Graves, I am not an Auror.” He mutters, shifting uncomfortably from foot to foot.

 

“I understand that, but all we need is information — once you gain evidence, the Aurors can move in. Will you at least read my assignment plan?” Percival asks, moving in closer to him. He holds out a file, and Newt reads the title.

 

His eyebrows raise and he even lets out a small laugh. “You… you want me to pretend to be engaged to somebody?!” Newt asks, flitting his gaze up to the man’s facial expression for a moment. Graves nods a single time, holding out the file even further. The Magizoologist takes it with a hesitant grasp, bringing it closer to his face.

 

“If you do this… I believe we can get the Ministry on board with allowing your residency in London to be reconsidered. I’ve already had discussions with the Minister and he agrees aiding with the capture of this man would warrant a fair repayment.” Graves reveals.

 

Newt scans over the information, his eyes stuck on two words; ‘Porpentina Goldstein.’ Now, he knows exactly who this is; he’s seen her a few times around the building and she always smiles shyly at him. She got promoted last year to an Auror and admittedly she doesn’t inhabit the first floor so often, but he thinks she’s quite… pretty. But, not enough to warrant him taking part in this absurd request. Although, living back in London would certainly make a nice change for him… it would be the perfect place to finish his second book.

 

“Will you fully lift the ban on magical creatures? I cannot be the only wizard in the country allowed to keep them with a strict permit. Others should… they deserve to be cared for by many people.” He states, looking down at his shoes. Graves has an untied lace.

 

The other man stays quiet for a moment, his hand resting upon his chin. “Alright, I will talk to Madam President. If you do this I promise to fight for the law to be uplifted no matter her answer. I’ll report back to you next week with her reply,” he agrees.

 

A small smile starts to grow across Mr. Scamander’s freckled face. “Then I suppose I’ll help you.” He says.

 

Graves lets out a quiet sigh of relief. “Read up on the file, I’ll talk to you when you come into MACUSA on Wednesday. I’ll have more information as of then,” he explains.

 

And, upon the Wednesday it was revealed that Newt’s wishes would slowly but surely be answered once the assignment draws to a close. So, the wizard still quite reluctantly accepted the challenge given by Graves and then became briefed on the fact that Miss Goldstein would be staying with him for a few days if she accepts. Newt was told that she would be informed of their task at hand after she finishes her current report, and that he was to report back to Graves’ office at 16:00 hours on Friday. Newt left the office feeling terribly nervous. In fact, he was so nervous that as he made his way down to his tiny room on the first floor he was unable to work on his book draft due to the trembling in each hand.

 

+


	3. Staying With Mr. Scamander.

+

 

15:57.

 

Tina has to stop herself from drinking yet another cup of coffee, because she’s starting to get the shakes and she certainly doesn’t want Mr. Scamander to think she’s some kind of caffeine addict.  _ Despite the fact that this may be slightly true, because coffee is the superior beverage afterall. _ “God, shut up, Tina.” The brunette mutters to herself, pressing the button on the elevator and greeting the resident goblin with a nod. She arrives at the correct floor and turns the corner towards Graves’ office, already being met with the teal back of a coat that is worn by a rather tall man; Newt Scamander.

 

She steps closer, her footsteps clearly catching his attention as his body languages seems to change and become significantly less relaxed. As Tina nears his side, the door to Graves’ office once again opens in that same ominous manner as each time before. “It’s like he wants to scare people,” she whispers, looking up at Newt who’s concentrating on the briefcase grasped firmly in his right hand. “Uh, shall we go in?” Her voice somehow makes him jump, which in turn makes her jump. Maybe that fourth coffee wasn’t such a great idea.

 

“You go first,” he says — completely meaning for this to be one of those polite gestures that men are meant to do, but it comes across as more of a demand. Tina quickly steps into the office, and he follows her whilst silently trying to calm himself down and act ‘normal’ around her.

 

Graves is sat in his desk, awaiting their arrival. “You’ve both read the file and you know of your assignment. As of today you no longer work here, your names are Tina Flame and Newt will have to stay the same… I have assessed the situation in that a fair few people will know of you for your book, but each Auror who knows of your rescue mission last year agreed to drink the obliviative potion you created for us. Nobody but myself and Piqcuery know about it, and each and every record has been altered. That Zowou died on site by a few backup Aurors as of today. Grindelwald never knew what happened to it after going into hiding, since we never risked allowing papers to post your name as we wanted you to aid us with traffickers. Any single article explaining how the Chimera was rescued has also been amended. This has taken us a month to prepare. So, your identity will not be compromised this way.”

 

“You’ve been plannin’ this for a month?” Tina asks. “What if he’d disagreed…” she trails off, not meaning to undermine her boss.

 

Graves smirks from behind his hand. “Then I would most likely have lost my job.” He answers.

 

“Oh. Right… Okay.” Tina squeaks.

 

“Here is everything you will need for your assignment,” Graves adverts the subject, handing each of them a small package. “After your three days living with Mr. Scamander you will both go to the address that’s inside and your mission will begin… remember, you’re engaged.” He reminds them, as Tina’s eye catches a sparkling ring inside of the package.

 

The pair of them take their boxes and leave the office, leaving the building and disapparating back to his place. They’re quiet for the whole way and Tina can’t help but feel incredibly like that is the worst idea she’s ever agreed to. They enter through the front door, and Newt shrugs off his coat. “Um, I have to feed my creatures — I’ve given my assistant a few days off… would you like to meet them?” He asks, placing down his case.

 

“I mean, sure.” Tina agrees, never having been bothered about magical beasts due to the old strictness of the law.

 

She follows him to a door and expects there to be some sort of room where he may keep a small selection of animals. When they both descend a staircase and she’s met with what looks more like an entire zoo, Tina gasps… it’s filled with weird and wonderful looking creatures, different habitats too. He crouches down beside a small unicorn, and turns to reveal a bandaid against his neck. Tina wonders what had happened. The witch spins around on the staircase, taking each and every piece of colour in. She listens to the various calls of the creatures and closes her eyes.

 

“Do you like it?” Newt interrupts her moment of taking it all in, and her eyes snap open.

 

The brunette grins, walking down the rest of the stairs. “It’s amazin’!” She exhales, watching him bottle feed the unicorn with such a caring touch. After realising she’d white clearly staring, Tina quickly adverts her eyes to some kind of bird flying above them. “How many creatures are down here?” She asks, curiosity twinkling amongst her gaze.

 

“Well, to make it easier I have seventeen species in here and another eleven in my case.” He explains casually, as if it were the most simple thing in the world; like everyone does what he does.

 

Tina smiles, exhaling a short laugh. “I see,” she replies.

 

The Auror watches him feeding the animals, becoming entranced by intrigue with each new creature she settles eyes upon. After climbing out of his case she’s truly speechless, following him into the kitchen. “So, um, what would you like to eat?” He asks, opening and closing various cupboards.

 

“Oh, I don’t mind.” Tina replies, watching him retrieve some cans of soup and nodding at the offer. “So… we should look in our boxes now.” She adds, gesturing towards where they’d left them on the table.

 

Newt moves towards his, already opening it. There’s a piece of paper titled ‘simple backstory’ which he begins to read. “Apparently we met three years ago on Christmas Eve and it was… love… it was, um love at,” he stumbles over his words, becoming caught unaware at what the paper was going to read like.

 

“First sight.” Tina finishes for him, now reading her paper too. “Who knew Graves was a sucker for cheesy romance, huh?” She smirks, earning a light chuckle from the wizard across the table.

 

After reading their backstories and becoming informed that they are also welcome to add their own pieces of information in the journals included, Tina picks out the engagement ring. She gulps, looking at the twinkling diamond in the palm of her hand. “I guess I’d better get used to wearin’ this.” She mumbles, sliding into onto the correct finger. Her mind travels to how in the name of deliverance her boss had found out her ring size, but then she remembers that her sister is a very mischievous individual.

 

Newt begins to heat up the soup on the stove, his back turned to her as she internally tries to figure out how this is going to work. In just four days they have to act like they’re madly in love and the pair haven’t really had a conversation longer than three sentences yet. They haven’t even made eye contact for goodness sakes. She sighs unwillingly, earning his attention and he turns. “Sorry, I — I’m not overly talkative.” Newt’s tone is timid, and she immediately feels guilty.

 

“No, don’t apologise! I just figure… we gotta act close as, well, fiancés in a few days. I know our fake backstories, but maybe we could talk? Get to know one another? You can tell me about your career.” She offers, pulling out a chair to sit on and hoping he won’t mind.

 

The wizard nods, turning back to stir the soup. “Are you sure? I’m not all that interesting,” he replies, using his wand to summon two bowls and spoons onto the counter. He pours out the soup and hands her a bowl, taking a seat opposite.

 

She laughs a little at his words, before thanking him for the dinner. “You’ve traveled, right? That’s interestin’. Your creatures… gosh, those are so interestin’!” The brunette haired woman exclaims, creating a bashful smile upon his face.

 

“Alright, well… I have traveled, yes. I’ve been to different countries to study magical creatures.” He explains simply, trying not to start rambling; everyone says he does that a lot when it comes to his favourite things.

 

Tina nods for him to go on, taking a spoonful of soup whilst she waits. “So, what are the creatures like? You rescue ‘em, right?” She asks, looking up at him to see that he’s intently watching his soup whilst he stirs it.

 

Newt smiles at her question and stops stirring. “Yes, I rescue many creatures… recently I managed to save a unicorn calf, she’s rather timid but warming to me quite quick. Her mother was killed for her rare blood… but, I’m going to take care of her.” He tells Tina, who listens intently with each word.

 

They continue to discuss his various magical creatures, their names and where they originated from until their bowls are empty and they hadn’t realised how long they’d been talking for. Tina feels as if she’s completed her task of getting to know him slightly better, although she still doesn’t know much about  _ him _ as a whole — but, his passion is certainly clear to her and it’s very sweet to hear about.

 

She’s shown to the spare room and they bid ‘goodnight’ to one another. Her case full of clothes and a few other items are in the corner; she’d packed it once finding out about her assignment and brought it with her this afternoon. MACUSA have also provided a selection of outfits within the package, in order to ‘maintain cover’ or something along those lines. Tina’s fake career is that she works in a cake shop, which she would never do in real life since she cannot cook for anything. But, a part of their first day is going to be dropping a cake around to the neighbour’s house so clearly Graves has some kind of faith in her. Well, either that or he’s going to charm a cake to appear. Come to think of it that seems a lot more likely. Besides, there’s still quite a handful of reading material inside the package dated with different days, so  _ hopefully _ there’s a cake baking cheat sheet amongst them.

 

+


	4. Mission Day: 01.

+

 

**_Tuesday; First Day of the Mission._ **

 

After spending three days together, Tina doesn’t really feel like they’ve learned much about one another. But, what she _has_ learned has been professionally recorded in her journal…

 

 

  * **_**_He’s very reserved and gets along better with creatures rather than humans_**_**


  * **_I’m probably going to have to turn into a unicorn to gain his trust_**


  * **_He thinks my job is more interesting than his…_** ** _he’s cute_**


  * **_He has funny names for his characters, slightly questionable.. I mean Beatrice ?? Strange man_**


  * **_doesn’t make eye contact - with me or Graves (shy?)_**


  * **_He has nice eyes though_**


  * **_We made a pact to never show one another our journals - my excuse was that it’d be interesting to read them after the mission ends as a celebration ha nice save Tina_**



 

 

The pair are now bringing their cases to their home for the next… however many weeks — or months, even. They stand at the bottom of the stone steps, having been dropped off by a cab just to look as inconspicuous as possible. Tina looks across at Newt, who’s still looking up at the home. “We should go in,” she says quietly, not being able to shake the feeling of being watched. He nods at her words and the two of them ascend the steps towards the door.

 

After getting inside the place looks quite homely; various decorations, photos of their fake relationship hung on the wall (those were taken yesterday and it was an interesting experience). Tina hangs up her coat on the rack and walks into the first room on the left; the living room. There’s an open fire and the carpets are a deep shade of crimson. She walks up to the mantelpiece and picks up a trophy. “Ooh, I won best cake award!” The witch exclaims, hearing Newt enter the room behind her.

 

They finish looking around downstairs and head up the staircase that’s centrepiece in the hall. The upstairs is rather simple; the batheism is on the far left and the bedroom is on the far right. Tina is a few steps ahead of Newt, and she pushes the bedroom door open. “Oh lord,” she mutters under her breath, her eyes settling upon the bed. The _only_ bed. Newt walks up behind her and makes a noise that sounds somewhat like a yelp. Tina isn’t sure if she should be offended. “I mean, it was bound to happen.” She states quietly. They both know the plan of the house and that it’s connected to the one next door, — the rooms downstairs alternate in the house next door, and it’s the same for the upper floor too — and that they’re semi-detached to it, so it’s best to stay safe.

 

“I — I suppose, yes.” The wizard stammers, turning away to hide his reddened face. He disappears from the room quicker than he’d arrived, and Tina hears his footsteps heading back downstairs. She sighs softly and places her case on the floor, then begins to hang up her clothes in the wardrobe at an attempt to start making it all feel like home.

 

After about an hour of the pair adding their own touches to the place by emptying minor contents of their belongings from the cases, Tina ventures into the kitchen to begin her first undercover challenge. “You know,” she begins, both hands resting on her hips. “When I became an Auror I thought I was destined for more.” The brunette finalises, looking directly at the oven in front of her.

 

She opens the small envelope with the day’s date on it, and laughs out loud when she sees a recipe on how to bake a cake. Tina rolls her eyes after reading it because she knows for a fact that it’s written in Queenie’s handwriting. Shaking her head, the witch switches the oven to the correct temperature and withdraws her wand from her skirt pocket. It doesn’t take long for things to go unfortunately wrong though, despite following the recipe and casting the right spells; maybe you do have to be a natural afterall. “Why are you burning!” Tina yells exasperatedly at the oven, attracting the attention of her new housemate.

 

“What’s going on?” Newt asks, waving his wand to clear the air of the thin layer of smoke that’s formed.

 

Tina turns around and sighs. “I can’t cook.” She pouts, waving her wand and opening the oven from behind her. “I swear I did it all right!” The woman insists, a clear amount agitation in her voice.

 

“Well, I’ll go to the bakery and we can pretend that you baked it?” He decides, earning a sad and defeated nod from Tina.

 

She cleans up her mess whilst he’s gone, appreciative of his offer yet quite upset with herself for not being able to prove herself in cake baking skills. When Newt arrives back with a box, Tina gestures for him to place it on the table. He opens it up to reveal a frilly outlined, bright pink cake. She looks up at him with a quizzical expression. “It was the only one they had,” he mumbles in his own defence.

 

“Tina Flame is a pink kinda girl then,” she replies, closing the lid back up. “Okay switch your fiancé act on ‘cause we gotta go nextdoor.”

 

Newt gulps, following her out of the kitchen and towards the front door. His head is filled with regrets and questions on what to do, but he knows that he has to show as much confidence as possible or she’s going to regret accepting him as her partner for the assignment. So, as they reach the top of the stone steps that neighbour their own, he takes a deep breath and faces upwards as the woman answers the door. “Hi, I’m Tina! This is Newt and we’re your new neighbours!” The brunette beside him encompasses a sickly sweet voice that barely seems like her at all, and he has to quickly untense himself as she rests her head against his arm. “We baked you this!” Tina exclaims, brandishing the pale pink box out towards her.

 

The woman standing before them couldn’t look any less amused, but she forces a smile. “Thank you… I’m Rosier.” Her hands grasp the box and take it from Tina, who takes a step back afterwards. “I’m quite busy, I must go.” She says, and before either of the others can even think of a reply the door is closed in both of their faces. Tina scoffs.

 

They both walk back to their own place and unlock the door, and Tina ensures they’re inside before talking. “What a bitter woman… if she was really my neighbour I’d consider movin’,” she comments, making Newt laugh a little. “I mean… we fake baked her a freakin’ cake, the ungrateful bi —“ stopping herself from finishing the sentence, Tina clears her throat. “Maybe she’ll warm up to us.”

 

“If she is who she says she is, I somewhat doubt it.” Mr. Scamander lowers his voice, glancing up at Tina who shrugs.

 

The Auror decides to rummage through her box again and double check that there’s no more tasks to complete. The envelopes have later dates on them and there’s only four more, although Tina doesn’t doubt that they’ll get sent some more. She looks down at her ring and twirls it around her finger, not noticing Newt walk in. “I was thinking that you should… if you want to… I mean it would help for our backstory if you read my book?” He finalises after a short struggle, and holds out the hardback in his hands towards her. “This was on the shelf in the living room, but I also have a more, um, first edition in the case. If you want.”

 

Tina becomes mildly overwhelmed with his offer; _he’d really lend her his original copy?_ She takes the hardback, unsure of what to say. “I’d accept the first edition if you want me to see it,” she says with a smile, looking up to see him stealing a glance at her whilst her gaze was distracted.

 

“Follow me,” Newt grins, turning around and heading upstairs to where he’d left the case — his creatures are still in there and his assistant will be caring for the creatures at his house, although Beatrice has been transferred to the case as apparently she’s new. Tina finds his empathetic behaviour towards the damaged creatures rather… endearing.

 

+


	5. Mission Day: 02.

+

 

When the day begun to draw to a close and they’d both eaten dinner, Tina had retired upstairs with her new book to read. Newt had lead her down into the case earlier that day and sought it out of one of his cupboards for her, and she’d felt a miniature swarm of butterflies upon accepting it. Now she is still tucked up in bed, dressed in her pyjamas and wearing her glasses as she’s deeply engrossed in the stories that are being told within these pages; each description, each illustration and little annotation has captured her attention like almost nothing she’s felt before. Tina barely realises that it’s almost ten pm until yawning, which prompts her to take a look at her wristwatch. She bookmarks the page with a ribbon from one of the bedside drawers —  _ if Graves somehow thought those would come in handy for anything else such as to wear in her hair he truly has another thing coming _ , Tina thinks to herself as she gets up. She wonders where Newt might have gotten to, And heads downstairs to find out.

 

It doesn’t take her long to find him… curled up on the couch, fast asleep. The witch shakes her head, crouching down beside him. “Hey, Mr. Scamander… wake up,” she whispers. He starts to stir in his sleep, groaning slightly. “If we’re gonna keep this act up we kinda gotta share the same bed.” She says louder.

 

He opens one eye and then the other before slowing sitting up. His cheeks are tinted pink and he feels more than a little awkward… but, then he remembers why he’s doing this. If he doesn’t go along with it then Graves won’t help him with the creatures law nor with his technical ban from London. Newt sighs, standing up and stretching. “It can’t be that bad,” Tina mumbles, walking out of the room and back upstairs. 

 

“Well, I — I talk in my sleep,” he mutters, his voice hoarse from being asleep for a while.

 

“So does my sister,” The woman counteracts right away. “Whatever you say can’t be any weirder than Queenie sleep talkin’ about datin’ a croissant.” She turns to see him looking mildly bewildered and laughs softly.

 

“She has a crush in a baker.” Tina explains.

 

“Oh, right.” The wizard replies as he continues to follow her, trying not to think about how she looks quite sweet in those pyjamas. She’s already snuggled under the duvet when he gets into the bedroom, so he inhales shakily and climbs in with her. Newt positions himself as close to the edge as he possibly can be without falling, and closes his eyes.

 

When Tina is greeted by the sunbeams peeping through the closed curtains the next morning, and stretches out her arms. It’s amongst this movement that she remembers who is sleeping beside her… or, who’s  _ supposed _ to be. She frowns as she gets into a sitting position, getting out of the bed and then almost stepping on him as she tries to exit the bedroom. He’s either sleeping on the floor on purpose or he’s fallen out of the bed without realising. Tina chuckles to herself, and kneels down on the floor. “Mr. Scamander, wake up,” she whispers. “I guess I’d better call you Newt, actually.” She mumbles to herself more than anyone else.

 

He eventually opens his eyes, clearly confused as to why he’s lying on the carpet as opposed to the mattress. “Uh, I think y’fell?” The witch says, and Newt sits up with a grunt.

 

“Yes, I think I did.” He comments, rubbing his eyes.

 

Newt heads down into his case to feed his creatures and Tina takes this opportunity to get freshened up and dressed. She decides to go grocery shopping too — the food in the house isn’t extensive enough to last them longer than about two weeks, and her tastes don’t really meet her boss’ anyway. She tries to ask Newt what he would like, but she hears the shower running from upstairs so figures that guesswork will do. After leaving a little note on the kitchen table the witch heads out with some of the money left for her in her package.

 

Tina returns just under an hour later, glancing at the neighbouring door that’s still closed as well as the front room curtains. She unlocks their door, stepping inside and dropping all of her bags on the kitchen table. “Newt?” She calls, starting to wave her wand and put everything away. He doesn’t answer to his name, so she assumes he must be down in the case again. It’s only the second day and the Auror decides that they don’t need to act on any matters right now, so she heads upstairs and takes the book of the bedside table to read.

 

Once again she becomes engrossed within the pages and loses track of everything around her. “Do you like it so far?” A voice asks most likely over an hour later, and Tina looks up over the hardback to see Newt standing in the doorway, somewhat of a smile forming across his face.

 

“I love it!” She exclaims. “It’s… so interestin’,” Tina adds, smiling back at him.

 

“My notes aren’t too distracting? Um, this was the first draft really.” He says, stepping inside the room and plunging his hands into his coat pockets.

 

“No, I really like them. And, your drawings too!” The brunette feels her cheeks growing warmer and quickly hides her face behind the book.

 

Newt looks up at her and clears his throat, his eyes fixated on the lamp that stands atop of the table. “Um, I didn’t know you wear glasses.” He mumbles.

 

Tina wonders why he comments on that in particular, but once again feels herself blushing and stays behind the book. “Oh, uh… yeah. I guess I don’t really wear ‘em at work.” She shrugs, turning another page.

 

He wants to say that she looks very lovely in them, but his mouth doesn’t actually form words and an uncomfortable forms instead. Newt sighs, turning to leave the room. She watches him go and wishes he’d stay; Tina has quite a lot of questions about his career, his book writing process and just about him in general. She wants him to open up to her but at the same time knows how she herself struggles within the very same aspect. She listens as his footsteps descend down the stairs and huffs when they stop. “C’mon, Tina.” The woman murmurs, closing the book and getting off the bed. “You gotta try.”

 

She goes downstairs and hopes that he isn’t finding her aggravating in that she’s basically just followed him. When she enters the living room she spies him having a conversation with the little creature in his pocket; he’d told her about ‘Pickett’ on her second day staying at his place, and Tina now realises that the little thing really does go everywhere with the guy. The small creature squeaks and chirps, and Newt whispers something else to him before it hides again in his pocket. “Yes, Tina?” He asks suddenly, not looking up but having obviously realised she’s watching him.

 

Feeling a little embarrassed, she clears her throat. “Uh, I was just wonderin’ if we should test one another on our backstories?” What leaves her mouth isn’t actually what she wants to do, but it’s an excuse and a backup plan that seems to have just formed in her mind.

 

“Oh, I suppose.” Newt answers, shuffling closer to the edge of the couch. Tina sits down cross-legged to his left and thinks of a question.

 

“Alright, why did you fall in love with me?” She asks.

 

The poor guy’s heart skips a beat at this, not expecting her to ask something like  _ that _ . “That… that’s not… it isn’t in the file,” Newt stammers, looking down at his hands and picking at a nail.

 

“I know, but we gotta start our story if we want others to believe it.” Tina’s voice has turned timid, her bubble of confidence seemingly burst now. “Should I make somethin’ up?” She suggests, earning a slight nod from him as his head is still turned away from her.

 

“Well… it was love at first sight, but I ended up fallin’ in love even more at your passion for caring for the creatures. And, I found it sweet that you’d share ‘em with me.” Tina starts to smirk as he tenses, and he finally turns to face her.

 

“I’d have you trust you a lot.”

 

“We’re gettin’ married, Scamander. Course y’trust me!” Tina shoots back, holding up her left hand to flash the ring.

 

Newt sighs, leaning back into the couch. “Okay… and, I fell further for you because of your ability to look past my differences and, um, like me for me.” He whispers.

 

Tina watches as he seems to make himself smaller, hugging his knees to his chest. She’s about to open her mouth and reply when the doorbell rings, causing them both to flinch quite terribly. “I’ll get it,” she says, hopping up and hurrying out of the room. After taking a quick glance through the peephole just to ensure that it’s safe to answer, the witch opens the door and smiles at the stranger before her.

 

“Hello, I live across the street and saw you movin’ in yesterday! I’m Louisa,” the middle aged woman extends her hand and Tina notices her rather… flattering sweater is scattered with what’s probably cat hair.

 

“I’m Tina, my fiancé Newt is in the other room. You know mine, always workin’!” She chuckles. “Newt… honey! Come meet our neighbour!” The brunette calls out, awaiting him to join her at the door.

 

He eventually appears behind he and awkwardly smiles at the woman on their doorstep. “Hello,” Newt says quietly.

 

“Oh, I know you! You wrote a book!” She exclaims quite gleefully, the second half of the sentence a relief to them both. “Y’see… this neighbourhood is predominantly magical, so y’dont gotta worry.” The black haired woman smiles warmly. Tina laughs nervously, but before she can reply a noise catches her attention; the door to their left is opening and Rosier is walking out.

 

The woman gets halfway down her set of steps before Louisa hustles over to the stone wall that separates them. “Afternoon, Rosie!” She beams, earning a quite mutter from the other woman. She apparates after descending all the way down and Louisa tuts to herself. “Very interesting, that one.” She tells Tina and Newt, who steal a glance at one another afterwards.

 

“Well, it was lovely to meet you, um —“

 

“Louisa!”

 

“Yeah… we’d better run, Newt is going to —“

 

“Write a new book?!”

 

“Sure.” Tina replies quickly, growing quite exasperated at this woman’s ability to interrupt her every sentence. “Seeya around!” She false grins, before hurriedly closing the door.

 

The pair head back into the living room and Tina sighs heavily. “Well, you’d better get writin’, honey.” She remarks sarcastically, and he coughs awkwardly.

 

“What should be my nickname for you?” Newt asks suddenly, catching her off guard.

 

Tina raises her head, watching as he blinks a few times before looking back at her for a moment. “Uh… somethin’ I dunno, British soundin’?” She suggests with a shrug, not expecting him to ask her that.

 

“Love,” Newt comments.

 

Feeling her cheeks get hot once again Tina turns around. “It’s perfect!” She exclaims in a squeaky voice, completely humiliating herself at this point. “I’ll be upstairs readin’,” she says quickly, leaving the room before she has a chance to make an idiot out of herself any further.

 

+


	6. Mission Day 03.

+

 

**_Thursday; Third Day of the Mission._ **

 

For the majority of Wednesday afternoon both Newt and Tina avoided one another, which isn’t exactly the best start to pretending as if they’re about to be married. She stayed awake for hours in the night, staring at the ceiling and just wandering the depths of her mind in an attempt to figure out how to make this work. Come morning time she’d slept in past nine, and Newt was beginning to worry. When she finally appears downstairs at ten minutes past ten, dressed and wearing her glasses atop of her slightly messed up hair he looks up from his journal, eyebrows raised.

 

“Are you alright? You were asleep… um… a long time,” he says, looking back down at what he’s been writing.

 

“Just couldn’t sleep last night,” she replies, noticing the look of worry that appears across his face. “All fault of my own though.”

 

“Oh… I was just documenting yesterday,” Newt explains. “I thought it would help to write things down, for when we have to report it at the end? Is that a good idea? I wasn’t sure, really.” The wizard begins to ramble, waving his quill around absentmindedly.

 

Tina smiles. “That’s a great idea, Newt!” After a moment she speaks again, “can I call you that when we’re by ourselves?” Her question is timid, and this time she’s not looking directly at him rather than the other way around.

 

“Of course. Should I call you Tina?” He asks, and she laughs.

 

“We are the worst about to be married couple,” Tina giggles again. “Okay… let's go for a walk. We gotta show our faces to try and learn information from other neighbours,” the witch announces randomly, walking closer towards the table.

 

“You haven’t eaten breakfast,” Newt points out, closing his journal.

 

Tina blushes slightly. “Alright, we shall go for a walk  _ after _ … thanks,” the brunette murmurs, earning a bashful smile from Newt, but she doesn’t see.

 

The pair shrug on their coats and get their shoes on in preparation for their walk together. It’s mid-November and the air outside holds a bitter chill, so they wrap up warm. Tina takes ahold of the door handle, but hesitates before turning it. “We should hold hands,” she states, turning around slowly. The woman holds out her hand towards Newt, who looks at it’s like its a foreign object of sorts.

 

“Hold hands…?”

 

“Hold hands.” Tina repeats bluntly.

 

Taking a deep breath, Newt reaches into her touch. She can tell that he’s tense and uncomfortable, but tries her best not to take it personally. They head outside and walk down the steps towards the sidewalk, both hoping that they look like a natural couple but knowing that it really doesn’t seem possible. Tina and Newt exit the premises of their pretend home and head towards the local park, stepping onto flame coloured leaves and appreciating the crunch that awaits them.

 

“So, I was thinkin’ once we have kind of been here for a week we invite Louisa and Rosier around for drinks? We have to evaluate behaviours, maybe even get her tipsy… every small thing will matter in the long run.” Tina says, keeping her voice low even though they’re well out of earshot of the house now.

 

“If I was Rosier I most likely would decline, and we may just get stuck listening to Louisa.” He comments quietly.

 

She sighs. “You’re right,” Tina’s shoulders sink a little. “How can we do this? It’s gonna take so long,” the witch complains with an audible groan.

 

“Well, I suppose we could ask Louisa about her… blame it on simple curiosity.” He suggests, becoming a lot more relaxed as they talk, forgetting that their hands are actually still entwined.

 

Tina nods, kicking a small pile of leaves that lie in their path. “I’ll organise it tonight, ask her to come around on Saturday. Meanwhile we could write down questions and stuff… I’m also almost finished with your book.” The brunette adds with a growing grin.

 

“How do you like it?” He asks, as they come to a halt underneath an oak tree that’s shedding its golden leaves a little like snow is falling above them.

 

She exhales a tiny fog cloud, looking up at him. “I’d like to get to know your creatures more… I found the Thunderbird fascinating!” Tina replies, her heart sinking a little as he disconnects their hands.

 

“Wasn’t that your Ilvermorny house… I, uh, I read the MACUSA report when you were appointed Auror,” he admits, growing slightly embarrassed and turning away from her.

 

Her stomach feels as if it’s taken in a small family of butterflies, but she attempts at ignoring them. “You actually read that stuff?” Tina chuckles slightly, yet at the same time feels quite complimented by his statement.

 

“Y - Yes,” he mumbles.  _ No I didn’t read this issue just because there was a photo of you on it…  _ Newt does  _ not _ want to admit to that.

 

She shivers suddenly, then feels a leaf land upon her head. Tina reaches up to collect it, observing each little pattern and raindrop that sits on its golden surface. Newt watches her every endearing action, smiling before she looks up. He turns away the moment he notices her looking at him. Tina drops the leaf. “Let’s head back… may I?” The brunette asks, out stretching her arm in his direction once more. Newt reluctantly takes her hand but is a lot less tensed up this time and they walk back to the house hand in hand.

 

+

  
  


When they arrive back Tina walks across to the house she’d seen Louisa renter yesterday, and makes the plans. Newt heads down into his case and starts to mutter to himself about what he could show Tina, and tries to make an audible promise to himself not to bombard her with information as he so often does when somebody asks him about his creatures. She returns half an hour later, knocking against the top of his case once she’s called his name elsewhere. There’s a muffled “come in,” as a reply, so she clicks open the latches and climbs on in.

 

Tina arrives at the bottom of the ladder after almost missing the last step, turning around to see Newt missing a few of his usual layers, and his shirt sleeves rolled up to his elbows in quite an unkempt manner. “You were gone for quite a while,” he comments, concentrating on squeezing some sort of liquid into a glass vial.

 

“That woman could talk for the whole of New York… maybe even America actually,” she replies with an enlarged sigh, moving a little closer to see what he could be doing. “What’s that?” Tina asks.

 

“This… is something the locals call ‘Swooping Evil,’ and I believe if the venom is correctly diluted, then it could be rather effective at removing bad memories.” He explains, putting a small cork inside of the vial and then placing that into a drawer. Newt turns to face her, moving his wrist towards her in one smooth action that seems to release the creature she’d previously thought to just be a small, spiky plant. But, instead a rather large bird swoops towards her with a frightful screech. Tina leaps backwards slightly, not expecting…  _ that _ to be sure. “Probably shouldn’t let it loose in here though.” Newt grins, before leaving the shed through the door.

 

She shakes her head before hurrying after him, beginning to feel even more curious about him. Tina has seen how he acts around his creatures from her short stay at his place and she’d be lying if she said that it didn’t warm her heart. She spots him just a few metres ahead, crouched down and bottle feeding the baby unicorn on he quite fondly refers to as ‘Beatrice.’ The witch joins him by his side, and watches as the shy, little creature nuzzles into him after she’s finished drinking. “Introduce yourself, Tina.” Newt says softly, gesturing for her to take a seat beside him against the ground.

 

The unicorn backs away at first, but Newt starts to soothe her and the creature soon grows a little more relaxed. “Tina won’t hurt you,” he tells the unicorn calf, and Tina slowly outstretches her hand towards it. She manages to pet it for a moment before it gallops off, and the wizard smiles beside her. “She’s healing already!” He comments happily, getting to his feet again and heading off in a new direction. Tina follows, interested to see where he goes or what he does next.

 

She’s following closely behind him until she feels something jump onto her trouser leg, and tiny feet seem to start to climb her limb like a tree. “Newt!” Tina calls in a voice that’s around one or two octaves higher than usual. Her eyes travel down to what looks to be a Niffler, and it’s reaching out for her pocket.

 

“You get your thieving paws off of her!” He scolds, taking the creature away before it can successfully complete its robbery. Newt places the Niffler back inside of its gold lined cave, turning back to Tina who’s busy tucking her locket away underneath her shirt. “Sorry about that,” he apologises.

 

“It’s alright, I read about them… I should’ve hidden all my shiny things.” Tina jokes, but there’s little humour in her voice. That locket is extremely special to her.

 

A silence falls over them, and he tries his best to read her but to no avail as she walks off. Newt sighs quietly, following behind her and planning to show her the Bowtruckle tree next… they hadn’t exact,g been through all of this yet, since he’d been much too shy to actually perish show her around during her short stay a few days back. She’d seen his basement and his case, but Tina had also been too nervous to ask any questions due to her holding near to no knowledge of these magnificent creatures not too long ago.

 

Once they’ve been through each habitat and Newt has told her a little bit about each creature they walk back to the shed together, both of them feeling a slight touch of familiarity with one another now. Tina prepares them both some lunch, and they sit at the kitchen table whilst she jots down some notes inside of her journal;

 

**_Day 3;_ **

 

 

  * **_**_I’m entranced by these creatures and the way he cares for them_**_**


  * **_Louisa is the worst. Almost worse than Abernathy…. almost_**


  * **_We held hands and … yeah_**



 

 

+


	7. Mission Day 05.

+

 

**_Saturday: Fifth Day of the Mission._ **

 

It’s mid-morning and Newt is busy down in his case giving his creatures breakfast, whilst Tina is clearing away the cutlery from her own bowl of cereal. She wonders whether or not to attempt at knocking on their neighbour’s door again — maybe she’ll answer this time. The brunette glances at the case that’s still latched shut on the living room floor as she walks through the hallway, then removes her coat from the coat rack and slips it over her arms. Shutting the door as quietly as she can so as not to alarm Mr. Scamander, the Auror heads down towards the sidewalk and then up to Rosier’s front door.

 

She taps two, firm knocks against the door with her enclosed fist and waits. Tina is quite shocked when she hears footsteps start to get louder and when the door opens she’s caught off guard a little. “Oh, sorry to bother you,” the brunette starts, racking her mind for what her sentence is actually supposed to be. “Me and Newt are having’ drinks tonight… um, Louisa is comin’ too, so I wouldn’t blame you for sayin’ no.” Tina says, attempting at connecting with the woman as a last resort.

 

Rosier chuckles, her freshly manicured nails running up and down the door as she holds it half open. “I’ll have to decline, I’m going away for the weekend. Thank you for the offer, but I must finish packing.” The woman says, her smile seeming a little less false this time.

 

Tina nods, watching as she shuts the door and even that action seems a lot less forceful too. She smiles to herself when she turns around, heading back to the house. When the witch gets in she can hear a slight commotion happening in the living room and wanders in to find out what could be going on. “I’ve told you to stop taking things that do not belong to you!” Newt scolds the Niffler, holding it upside down as various trinkets tumble out of its pouch. Tina awaits in the doorway, eyebrows raised, until he notices her.

 

“Oh, hello.” Newt greets, finishing with his task at hand and placing the mischievous creature back inside the case before he shuts it tight. “Your ring,” he says, holding out her engagement ring in the palm of his hand.

 

She feels herself redden with embarrassment and reaches out to retrieve it… She must have left it in the bathroom this morning. “Thanks,” Tina tells him, slipping it back onto her finger. “So, Rosier finally answered her door _and_ I made her laugh.” The woman informs him with a smile beginning to form.

 

“Did you invite her?” He asks.

 

“Yeah, but apparently she’s goin’ away for the weekend. Louisa will have to help us — I’m sure she knows more than she thinks.” Newt nods in agreement.

 

+

 

“I have no idea what to wear… what do people wear to talk to neighbours and drink alcohol?” Tina asks, sighing heavily as she examines her choice of sweater in the long, bedroom mirror.

 

Newt is adjusting his hair in the bathroom down the hallway, the door slightly ajar so that he can hear her. “Do I have to change clothes too?” He asks, walking back into the room and admiring her outfit choice before she turns around. He thinks that her decision to wear a cream coloured sweater with black trousers looks perfectly lovely, but she’s already tugging it over her head and he almost gives himself whiplash turning around trying not to watch her.

 

“Chill out, Mr. Scamander… I’m wearin’ a vest,” Tina smirks, although she knows that she’s blushing too.

 

She slips on a shimmering, silver blouse instead and spins around to show him. Newt still has his back facing her and Tina clears her throat to catch his attention. The wizard turns back again and can’t help but smile — this looks even lovelier than the previous outfit. “It’s very nice,” he comments quietly.

 

“D’you think?” Tina queries, taking another look at herself in the mirror. “You don’t have to change if you don’t want to, I’ve noticed you usually just wear different variations of the same outfit.” She comments simply, then reaches for a tube of lipstick that’s atop of the dresser.

 

Newt observes as she puts on the crimson red, and he notes how it brings out the beautiful colour in her eyes. He has to leave the room at this point because he doesn’t want to embarrass himself any further by revealing just how much his cheeks have turned pink. The man heads downstairs and starts bringing the wine glasses into the living room, wondering if Louisa will notice that he isn’t drinking — he’s never really had a taste for the stuff personally.

 

When Tina joins him it’s noted that they only have five more minutes left of peace before their guest arrives. “Okay, we can do this.” She says, and Newt isn’t sure who she’s trying to reassure more… him or herself. The doorbell rings at exactly seven on the dot, and she rushes out into the hallway to answer. He hears her greeting Louisa in a much more high pitched voice than usual and inhales deeply before the two women enter the room with him. It’s going to be a long, _long_ night.

 

Roughly half an hour in and the pair have already found out more about this neighborhood Tina through any kind of research any Auror could ever do. Turns out Louisa has gained the nickname of ‘neighbourhood gossip’ _and honestly, who could ever imagine why?_ “So,” Tina says, hoping to actually get a sentence in for herself this time. “Our neighbour seems… kinda distant. Is she not a people person?” The brunette asks as casually as she can, slowly sipping on her glass of white wine.

 

“Well…” Louisa begins, looking at both Newt and Tina who are sat on the opposite couch. “I know one thing for sure— she is a dark, dark witch who performs satanic rituals on the daily.”

 

The Auror and writer sat beside one another both choke on their drinks practically in perfect sync, and then turn to give one another a ‘look.’ Before either of them can question what Louisa has just said, she bursts into laughter which causes the pair to jump in fright. “You shoulda seen your faces just then!” She shrieks with glee, pointing at them and slapping her knee.

 

Tina begins to pretend to laugh too, gently nudging Newt with her foot so that he knows to join in. The other woman sighs and wipes at her eyes, meanwhile Tina is biting the inside of her mouth so as not to say anything rude. “She goes away a lot for work, I think she’s just real insecure and shy really.” She explains truthfully this time.

 

They continue to converse, but they don’t gather up much useful information from their guest. When the clock strikes nine Tina decides that it’s time to somewhat politely get rid of her drinking partner, and conjures up the perfect excuse that nine pm is the time that her fiancé likes to write for his book. This gets Louisa up in no time and she bustles out into the hallway, now definitely tipsy and rambling on about how much she likes Bowtruckles. “Thanks so much for comin’, you get home safe now!” Tina says, holding genuine concern in her voice as she seriously wonders if Louisa can cross the road in a straight line.

 

“I’d better get goin’!” The black haired woman sing-songs, beginning to giggle. “You have some writin’ time now, Newt! Bye, bye!” She waves, her voice shrill enough to smash at least two glasses.

 

Tina watches as she stumbles down the steps and somehow makes it across the street in one piece, narrowly missing a man who cycles past on his bicycle and shouts some rather… unkind profanities at the woman. Louisa doesn’t seem phased though, as she waves dramatically at Tina, who briefly returns the gesture before finally shutting the door. “Wow,” she exhales heavily, locking it behind her and returning to the living room. “Hey, I thought you didn’t drink?” The brunette questions, looking over at the empty wine glass between his fingers.

 

“I do now,” Newt murmurs, putting it back onto the coffee table with a slight _clink!_

 

The Auror chuckles at this, going over to finish her glass before taking a seat beside him. “I need to sleep that off, I feel like I have a social hangover.” She comments, getting to her feet once more and stretching out her arms. Tina makes her way up the stairs to prepare herself for a good night’s sleep, and this time Newt doesn’t even protest; but instead he picks up his case and follows her. He feeds each of his creatures a slightly belated dinner, before getting dressed into some nightwear and brushing his teeth. A while later Newt tiptoes into the bedroom, finding Tina sat up and reading his book.

 

“It’s late,” he comments, edging closer to the bed.

 

The witch sighs, closing the book and opening her mouth to answer… yet, instead a hiccup finds its way out instead. She shuts the book, placing it carefully on top of her bedside table. Tina folds her arms across her chest and huffs louder. “I can’t sleep,” she grumbles.

 

Newt feels the corner of his mouth start to twitch, a small smirk threatening to form. “Follow me,” he tells her, putting his case onto the floor so that he can unlatch it and climb in. The Auror follows him down the ladder and into the shed, observing as he browses one of the shelves that’s screwed onto the wall in quite a wonky manner, picking a single leaf from a plant that she can’t pinpoint its origin. He grinds the leaf into a paste and adds some water from a vial, swirling it up in the pestle and mortar before bringing it towards her.

 

“Here,” the Magizoologist speaks softly, handing her the stone cup without meeting her eyes.

 

Tina takes it with care, another hiccup interrupting her thought process before she can thank him. “Drink it… sorry about the taste,” Newt further adds, and lifts his head to watch her consume his cure. She grimaces upon finishing the small volume of liquid, holding out the cup for him to take back. The wizard turns, using his wand to clean it and then puts it back in the rightful place before looking back over at Tina again. “Did it work?” He asks, already knowing the answer though.

 

She stays quiet for a moment, breathing in deeply and then out. “It did… how’d you do that?” The brunette asks, her eyes full of wonder and tone of voice filled with awe.

 

“A little while back a wizarding tribe just outside North America gifted that plant to me,” he explains. “Which is why I can’t share the recipe — I perfected it on my travels you see, yet nobody knows of their existence expect for a few.”

 

“And me,” Tina realises out loud, starting to smile.

 

“Yes, and you.”

 

She pauses, meeting his eye for just about a second. “Do you trust me, Mr. Scamander?” The witch asks, not taking her eyes off of him whereas his gaze cheers away.

 

“Yes… yes, I think I do, Tina.”

+


	8. Mission Day 14.

+

 

**_Saturday: Fourteenth Day of the Mission._ **

 

After spending nine more days together, Newt Scamander and Tina Goldstein are growing a little more comfortable around one another each and every day. On day eleven Tina finished his book, so that became their conversational topic for quite a while; Newt asking her questions about her favourite parts, or of which creature intrigues her the most. As well as investigating Rosier and her alleged connections to Grindelwald, when the pair have had a moment or two to spare they’ve bend down in his case as he’s been teaching her more and more about magical creatures. Unfortunately they haven’t gotten much more information regarding their assignment, but they’ve conversed with Louisa a (big) handful of times and seen Rosier leave her building twice; once carrying luggage and she was gone for one night, and another time she apparated away with nothing in her hands. Tina is still left wondering whether or not the connection can even be proved whether or not it’s real, but she knows that the woman is home because she heard a radio playing through the walls for the first time this morning… and she plans to use this fact to her advantage.

 

“Alright, so she likes music… or she’s using the sound to cover up torture. Either way, I’m gonna go out and see what happens and then come back and knock — I’ll ask for some flour!” She mutters to herself, pacing the living room with her head face downwards.

 

Newt looks up from the pages of his journal. “Where are you going?” He asks, only catching snippets of her ramblings.

 

“I’ll just go to the shop, and you keep an eye out,” Tina replies, stopping mid-pace to look across at him. “See if anythin’ happens, maybe she’ll knock? I dunno. We gotta try different strategies, y’know?” The brunette sighs a little, running a hand through her slightly mussed hairstyle.

 

He nods, deciding it best to simply agree. “Alright… I’ll sit by the window,” Newt decided, closing up the journal and carrying it over to the window seat along with his quill.

 

“I won’t be long,” the witch tells him, exiting the room to put on her coat. “Remember the necklace!” She reminds the wizard, then slips on her shoes and leaves out of the door.

 

“Be careful!” Newt calls out moments before the front door closes again, yet he doesn’t know that she heard him… and smiled fondly whilst making her way down each step.

 

He keeps watch through the window for the whole half an hour that she’s absent, glancing down and writing a few things against the page so as not to look too suspicious. When Newt hears the front door open and Tina exclaim “I’m home, honey!” He breathes a small sigh of relief, knowing that she’s still safe and that it’s only her entering the house ensures that the pair of them are going to be okay. The wizard waits for her to put the groceries into the kitchen and then smiles when she joins him.

 

“Did anything happen?” Tina asks, sitting down beside him and taking a glance outside herself.

 

The man shakes his head. “I did see a dog though,” he comments casually, causing her to laugh.

 

“Well, good for you,” Tina comments mildly sarcastically, but he doesn’t seem to pick up on it.

 

They both fall quiet for a moment, staring out of the window and each losing their train of thought. Then as if strangely on cue a woman appears on the sidewalk having left her house, and Rosier looks straight towards their living room window. Both Newt and Tina flinch quite badly, the witches each catching one another’s gaze and the Auror manages to wave, just praying that it doesn’t seem as if they were watching on purpose. The woman outside smiles ever so slightly, bringing up her own hand to wave back before disappearing to wherever it is that she must be off to. When she’s gone Tina groans, pressing her palm to her face. “Let’s hope that nosy neighbours is all she thinks of us right now,” she mumbles, turning to Newt who’s also looking a tad bewildered.

 

“Do you think she knew we were watching her?” He questions, tilting his head slightly and meeting her gaze for a few moments before glancing back towards the window pane once more.

 

Tina shrugs. “I hope not… but, hopefully she’s back soon ‘cause I need to use my plan.” She comments, getting to her feet.

 

The two of them wait a few hours, and then sure enough they hear a radio turn on again in the adjoining house yet again. The Auror hops to her feet, scraping the kitchen chair along the floor from the sudden movement. She closes her journal and places it on top of the worktop, leaving into the hallway. “I’ll be back in a minute!” The brunette calls to Newt, who’s busy drawing in the living room at this current moment in time.

 

She descends the steps outside and then turns the corner towards the house beside theirs, climbing those steps and reaching the door. Tina balls her fist and raises it to knock, waiting a few moments before knocking again — a little harder this time. After a third knock the woman is unsure that this is actually a good idea, but then the muffled tune from the radio stops short, and footsteps start to near the closed door in front of her. “Yes?” Rosier appears, once again leaning against the semi-closed door with somewhat of a false smile being worn.

 

“Sorry to bother your I was wonderin’ if you had any all purpose flour? I can’t believe I forgot it when I went shoppin’ earlier! Oh, and I heard the tunes… I love music, Newt ain’t much of a dancer though.” Tina chuckles, looking up at the woman.

 

“Let me go and check… I’m not much of a baker,” Rosier replies, surprising Tina with the fact that she’s actual compliment to the request.

 

The witch waits outside and manages to peer inside her hallway a little, but nothing out of the ordinary seems to leap out at her. The other witch returns moments later, a small paper bag in between her now maroon coloured nails that are quite scarily sharp in Tina’s opinion. “Here, it’s quite old.” Rosier explains, handing it to her.

 

“Thanks so much!” The brunette takes the bag, earning a nod from the other woman who then shuts the door. Tina hesitates in turning around, and lingers for just a few moments as she pretends to check her watch. After a few seconds she hears the radio switch in but then she’s sure she can hear Rosier talking… but, it’s a little too much of a risk to listen in this closely and out in the open, so she hurries back to the house of her own and gets inside. But, upon returning to the kitchen and nearing the wall… no sound can be heard any longer.

 

It’s later that night when Tina has finished icing her cupcakes that slightly resemble the culinary skills of an infant, that she has an idea. She places the cakes into a tin, deciding to use the excuse that Newt had made them if she hands them out to the neighbours tomorrow. After finishing up in the kitchen the Auror goes upstairs to find Newt, who is only just emerging out of his case upon her arrival. “Newt…” she begins, waiting for him to lock the case and give her his full attention before continuing. “I have an idea to further prove our cover, plus if she’s home then it might help me explain somethin’ too.” She whispers, her eyes gesturing towards the wall that adjoins to Rosier’s bedroom on the other side.

 

He blinks a few times, looking up at her quite oblivious to her idea. “If we jump on the bed… it’ll be like, uh… yeah,” Tina mumbles, awkwardly clearing her throat after a few seconds. Newt still looks confused by her vague sentences, his brow furrowed and his eyes looking tired. The brunette before him sighs quietly, walking over to the bed and climbing onto it. “Jump.” She instructs, already beginning to bounce on the mattress herself.

 

Feeling too tired to argue or question the woman’s motives any further, Mr. Scamander joins her atop of the bed and starts to jump beside her. Pretty soon they’re both in fits of laughter and Tina grabs his hand to stop herself from losing her balance, glancing across at him with the sweetest grin. After about five minutes of giggling and jumping whilst hand in hand, the Auror falls down and tugs him down with her. They lie on their backs, panting and trying to catch their breath again. Newt suddenly comes to the realisation of what they have just mimicked, and feels himself start to turn red. “Oh…” he trails off, staring at the ceiling.

 

“Sorry,” Tina mutters, turning her head slightly to face him. They’re both flushed due to all of the bouncing anyhow, so she doesn’t register his blush that’s painted across his freckled cheeks.

 

He exhales heavily, shutting his eyes. Newt and Tina are still holding hands at this point yet neither of them make the move to let go. “Goodnight, Tina.” The wizard whispers, finally unlinking their fingers so that they can get underneath the covers. And, this time they don’t sleep so far apart but lie comfortably side by side; a small gap between them. Newt falls asleep first and the woman beside him listens to his soft snores until she falls into a slumber of her own.

 

+


	9. Mission Day 15.

+

 

**_Sunday: Fifteenth Day of the Mission._ **

 

Both Tina and Newt eat their breakfast in a slightly awkward silence, neither of them really knowing what to say. Once they’re finished and the kitchen is clear, they each head to do their own thing; getting ready for the day, feeding the creatures and such. The Magizoologist is busy scrawling in his journal at the kitchen table when he hears Tina calling him from the other room, insisting that he get his coat on quick. “She’s in her front yard,” the brunette explains through a whisper, gesturing to the door with her eye gaze before the pair step outside. They pause for a moment whilst Tina locks the door, then turns and pretends to have only just noticed their neighbour beside them. “Mornin’, Rosier!” The Auror greets in a sing-song voice, taking Newt by the hand before stepping forwards.

 

“You two should really learn how to cast Imperturbable,” the woman across the wall answers back, a slight smirk teasing at each corner of her lips.

 

The couple stop walking and Tina laughs. “Well, y’know… heat of the moment and all. Is that why your radio stopped yesterday? I don’t mind hearin’ it through the walls y’know!” The brunette insists, watching as the other woman seems to shift her stance towards a much more closed off posture; facing away from them and looking down at her rose plant instead.

 

“I don’t want to bother my neighbours,” Rosier replies, getting to her feet. “Have a good day.” She smiles, nodding towards them before heading back inside.

 

The pair carry on walking for a while, getting safely out of earshot before starting a new conversation. “That was rather clever,” Newt tells her, as the pair of them stop walking to sit down on a bench.

 

Tina smiles, looking down at the flame coloured leaves underneath her boots. “Well, that was one of my reasons for last night… that and to establish our relationship a little further. I wasn’t sure how she was gonna react to my question about the charm, but it helped.”

 

They stay sat down for roughly half a hour, discussing why she could have stopped Tina from eavesdropping the day before;  _ was she using the radio as a test to whoever or not she could hear? Was she talking to someone in secret? Was the radio a coincidence? Did she really not want to bother  them both, or was she using the radio to cover up something else?  _ There’s many unanswered questions, but at least they both know for sure that the charm was cast and that it was most likely cast for a reason. The pair head back home after discussing the various possibilities, still hand in hand and switching up the topic to be about creatures instead.

 

After returning home the Auror decides that they need a recap on what they know so far, and spreads out some paper on the kitchen table. She takes use of  the sound proofing charm and casts it against the wall, knowing that it’ll give them enough time to talk in private. “So,” Tina begins, starting to write something on the paper. “We know she leaves like clockwork Monday to Wednesday… possible job?” She suggests, jotting it down.

 

“And she sometimes leaves on weekends, as well as Thursday when she didn’t come back overnight and left with a bag.” Newt adds, watching as she writes that down too. “Maybe she’s visiting him.”

 

“She’s keeping it random — could be a tactic, or it could be random visits to a family member or even a doctor. We need to somehow look into this.” The brunette decides out loud. “She usually apparates though, so it’ll be hard to follow her… we need to really keep a lookout as much as possible over the next few days.”

 

The wizard nods. “We know she cast the sound proofing charm,” he reiterates, and Tina jots down their lists of possible motives as to why the woman had done so.

 

“Louisa said she’s reserved… so, clearly she doesn’t let many people into her life. She doesn’t seem to socialise, so I’d say right now if she really is guilty that she is planning something. Talking it over… taking long visits to make deals? Who knows that they could be doing.” Tina sighs, putting the quill down onto the table then rolling up the paper.

 

They each sit in the quiet for a while, sticking to their own thoughts. “Our next task will be to follow her somewhere,” the Auror eventually breaks the silence, and Newt nods.

 

“We could observe her post too — on Wednesday she received that owl, but we weren’t quick enough to inspect it.” He reminds her, and Tina nods back.

 

“We’re gettin’ somewhere,” she smiles. “We just need to keep at it and take this one step at a time. Undercover work is hard, especially with barely any background to work from.” The woman says, taking the scroll of paper in her hand.

 

Newt offers to keep it in his case; that way it should never fall into the wrong hands. They both head down into the small shed and he places it safely atop of a shelf. “Would you like to take a walk outside?” He turns to her, their eyes meeting for more than a few seconds this time and she grins.

 

“I thought you’d never ask!”

 

+


	10. Mission Day 19.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, because my last update was so short I’m being super nice and double updating for today!! You’re all welcome for this chapter... I think you’ll like it!
> 
> Enjoy :)

+

 

**_Thursday: Day Nineteen of the Mission._ **

 

Today is the day that the undercover couple have been waiting for… a chance to follow Rosier on foot. It’s Newt that spies her first; he’s absentmindedly watching leaves fall down out of the living room window, when he notices that she’s carrying a small bag and slowly nearing the front gate. He rushes to where Tina is folding some of her clean clothes upstairs, and she trips herself up upon the exit out of the bedroom and down the stairs. She shoves her shoes onto her feet and pulls Newt out of the door, forgetting about putting on her coat or even a sweater. Their eyes scan the area until the Auror spots their target a few metres away just across the street, turning a corner to go left.

 

“Let’s go!” Tina whisper yells to him, tighten her grip on his hand and making her way forwards.

 

The pair follow Rosier close behind, but not too close so that she’ll notice. Every so often they’ll stop to duck behind a wall, or pretend that they’re looking at a parked automobile. Eventually their journey leads them towards the edge of the big city where a few home run business, shops and cafes are located. They observe as Rosier enters a bakery whilst each pretending to browse at a nearby newspaper stand from across the street, the Auror using a compact mirror to peer behind her at the woman in question. Once she’s inside they both edge closer, standing a little way away from the door and glancing down at the menu that’s painted onto a board on the brick wall. The shop window is just slightly to their right, and the brunette peeks inside with a loud sigh to follow. “Seriously?! The one day we follow her and she’s just buyin’ freakin’ pastries?!” Tina exclaims, clearly frustrated.

 

She turns to Newt on her left, and he gives her somewhat of a smile. “Well, I think we deserve some kind of reward for getting here so —“

 

“She’s comin’ back!” Tina brings his sentence to an abrupt halt, panic written over her face as she looks from the window and then back to him. “Newt, I’m so sorry.” Her voice is a little shaky, and he’s unsure of what on Earth she could be talking about.

 

Then the sound of the bakery door reopening is signified by the twinkle of a bell and what happens next almost knocks Newt clean off of his feet… Tina cups his face with her slightly icy hands, and reaches up on her tiptoes to close the gap between their lips. She presses hers against his, initiating a kiss. Rosier wanders by the pair none the wiser, not bothering nor wanting to inspect a happy couple showing some public affection. After about fifty seconds — although it feels like a hell of a lot longer to Newt — the Auror makes the assumption that their target must have gone by, and she gently withdraws away from his face, the heels of her feet touching back down against the cobbles. Tina is surprised to find him with his eyes wide open, but he doesn’t remove his gaze away from hers this time. Instead they share eye contact for what seems to be minutes on end, and Newt is rendered completely speechless. The Magizoologist starts to smile suddenly, observing the colour of her eyes in a whole new light. He wonders if her cheeks are so terribly pink due to the cold air or a blush, and he knows that his must look the same if not an even deeper shade.

 

“We… we’d better get back,” Tina eventually whispers, watching as he seems to snap out of his trance and divert his eyes towards the ground. The pair are still standing extremely close together, so the brunette takes him by the arm and they apparate back inside of the house again.

 

Upon their arrival neither is sure of what to say, and it ends up being Newt who breaks into the quiet atmosphere around them. “That was… I’m… I’ve never really… I don’t —“ he stops talking, unable to grasp the right selection of words. The wizard clears his throat, looking down at his own feet to try and escape the awkwardness he’s just created.

 

“Your first kiss?” Tina whispers, and he catches her eye again. “It was kinda mine too… I only had one at Ilvermorny — it was durin’ our school dance and it wasn’t nothin’ much.” She exclaims to him, as if it’s supposed to prove something. Even Tina herself isn’t really sure why she told him that.

 

Newt frowns, confusion taking over him as he listens to her words. “Tina, you went out without a coat!” He exclaims out of the blue, unwillingly changing the subject but becoming worried at his sudden realisation.

 

“Well, yeah… I — we had to follow her.” The woman shrugs, but simultaneously notices how cold she’s feeling now that the adrenaline of the chase has begun to wear off.

 

The wizard shakes his head and makes his way towards her, taking off his own teal blue coat and holding it towards her. Newt gently drapes it around her shoulders and then leaves towards the kitchen. Tina feels her cheeks heat up at the kindness in his gesture, appreciating the warmth as she wraps the soft material a little closer around her figure. The Auror jumps slightly at the sound of a little squeak, giggling when she realises that it’s Pickett who’s chattering and looking up out of the coat pocket. “I’m making you hot chocolate!” Newt calls out from the other room, regaining her attention after being greeted by the Bowtruckle.

 

She smiles yet again and turns to go and join him. Tina awaits her hot beverage sat down at the kitchen table, then Newt hands her the steaming mug and takes a seat in the chair beside her. “Did you see how much food she bought?” He asks, as she takes the first sip of the drink.

 

“I’d say enough for two…” the witch trails off, traveling into her thoughts for a moment. She recalls what she had seen Rosier selecting from behind the counter and then nods to herself. “Good question, thanks for remindin’ me.” Tina finalises.

 

“You’re welcome,” he replies, before taking a drink of his own hot cocoa.

 

They fall into a comfortable silence for a while. “Thanks for the cocoa,” she mumbles after a while, feeling overcome by tiredness. Tina gets up to her feet and stretches her arms out in front of her. About to inform Mr. Scamander that she’s going to take a nap, her sentence process is interrupted by the metallic _thunk!_ of the letter box opening and closing again. The pair share a confused glance for a moment, before heading out into the hallway to see what has been delivered to them. Tina picks up the envelope that’s addressed to ‘the Scamander’s to be’ and opens it up with her thumbnail.

 

“It’s from Graves,” she says quietly. “He wants a status report.”

 

“Well then… we’d better get to work.” Newt replies.

 

+


	11. Mission Day 20.

+

 

**_Saturday: Day Twenty one of the Mission._ **

 

The day before Tina had sent the status report back to Graves, using the letterbox as a no-maj would so as to avoid being too conspicuous, since an owl could quite easily be followed. The pair had then taken it in turns to keep an eye out of the window, but that day Rosier stayed inside her apartment; the occasional shuffle of furniture or movement in the kitchen could be heard. Explaining their information to Graves had seemed awkwardly underwhelming though, because the Auror has seen Rosier apparate from outside of the house and also when it has become silent during the day her and Newt have knocked to see if she’s in, and upon receiving no answer deduced that she must have apparate from inside too… although she could have simply been avoiding answering her door. But, they sent their small set of information that they’ve gathered away to MACUSA, and Tina stayed up for half of the night worrying about whether or not she’s doing her job properly.

 

Newt isn’t surprised when he wakes up at eight and the woman beside him is still deep in slumber. He carefully gets out from under the duvet, unable to resist ensuring that she’s tucked back in. The wizard then heads down into his case to feed his creatures some breakfast, before retreating to the kitchen himself and pouring out a bowl of cereal. He even gets washed and dressed before Tina rises from her sleep, and it isn't until almost ten when he hears movement from upstairs. He’s sat against the window seat jotting certain things down in his journal, and hearing her waking up almost distracts him from the fact that Rosier is getting into a taxi. “Tina!” He calls out, waiting for the vehicle to pull out of sight before running out of the room and up the stairs. “She got into a taxi!” Newt says, standing outside of the bathroom door and raising his voice over the noise of the shower.

 

“I’ll be out in a bit!” She calls back, so he decides to wait downstairs.

 

Eventually there’s a small creak against the stairs, indicating that she’s coming down. Tina enters the living room dressed in a cream shade of knitted sweater and trousers, her glasses on her face and the cuffs of the sweater bunched up in her hands. Newt thinks she looks extremely adorable and has to forcibly look away before she notices that he’s staring. “So, she’s gone away for the weekend again.” The Auror comments, taking a seat on the couch and snuggling up.

 

There’s something a little… off sounding about her voice to Newt, and he eyes her suspiciously. “Tina, are you alright?” The Magizoologist questions, stepping closer towards her. She’s now lying down on the couch with her eyes shut and glasses on the wonk, but one eye to look at him.

 

“I’m fine, Newt.” The woman mumbles against the paw of her sweater.

 

He frowns yet walks back towards the window to where he’d left his journal. Placing safely inside of one the enlarged pockets in his coat the wizard turns again, noticing that she’s back in a sitting position and rubbing her eyes. “I think we should rest today,” Newt suggests, still warily watching the witch as she looks over at him, a tired smile beginning to form.

 

“Are you worried about me, Mr. Scamander?” Tina teases with a smirk.

 

Feeling his cheeks grow warmer, Newt turns away from her gaze. “Well, yes… would it be silly of me to suggest that you may have caught a chill after leaving the house with no coat on two days ago?” He questions, looking back to see that her arms are folded across her chest and then she kisses her teeth slightly.

 

 _“No,”_ the Auror grumbles, but quickly realises her mistake. “I mean, yes, it _would_ be silly.” She corrects.

 

He chuckles softly, moving closer towards her. “Whether I’m right or wrong, I’d like you to relax for just one day — we can’t watch Rosier when she isn’t here.” The wizard points out, offering her his hand.

 

Tina looks down at his outstretched hand and then back up at his eyes. She entwines their fingers together and allows him to lead her towards his case, down into the shed and outside into the still breathtaking habitats. Newt mutters some form of incantation that turns the sky from bright and sunny to a shade of dusty pink, a few shimmering stars scattered amongst the skyline too. “I know it isn’t night yet, but it’s calming don’t you think?” He asks her, still leading her through the surroundings as she nods in agreement.

 

They eventually come to a small clearing and then Newt takes her over to a tree, sitting down underneath it and using its trunk as a back support. Tina does the same, glancing sideways and silently wishing that she could rest her head upon his shoulder. He looks up at the sky and points to a small cluster of stars. “Sometimes I design them in the form of my creatures,” the man tells her, and she recognises the outline of a Bowtruckle. The pair stay sat watching the evershifting stars for over an hour, and towards the end Tina can barely keep her eyes open; the feeling of  contentedness washing over her as she rests her head against Newt’s shoulder and he doesn’t even flinch.

 

“Feeling calm now?” Newt asks in a whisper. “Should I make you some tea?” He  aims yet another question towards her, noticing how often she’s been clearing her throat.

 

Tina nods, deciding that maybe it’ll be nice to have somebody that cares about her… even if it is pretend. As they ascend the ladder together, a thought pops into her head. “Newt?” She starts, waiting until they’re out of the case to continue. He looks up at her, signifying that he’s listening. “What made you agree to this assignment?” The woman asks, her eyes full of curiosity as well as carrying a sleepy kind of look.

 

“Well…” he wonders what to say for a moment, unsure of why it seems to difficult to tell the truth. “Graves promised to help amend the laws on magical creatures here, and to make a deal with the Ministry back home in letting me move there again.” Newt explains.

 

She isn’t sure why, but there’s a small ache in her chest after receiving this news; Tina doesn’t know why he isn’t allowed to reside back in London, but a large part of her doesn’t want him to go. “Oh,” the woman mumbles, unable to say anything other. Newt looks at her with a gaze that holds such longing, yet he still seems so distant. They stand before one another for what could be minutes on end, if it wasn’t interrupted by Tina’s own sneeze. They both jump in the after effects, and she steps back from Newt. “Sorry.” The brunette mumbles, turning her back and heading towards the kitchen.

 

Of course he chases after her, beating her to the kettle and waving his wand to ensure that it brews her some tea. “Tina, I knew you should have worn a coat,” Newt scolds her, yet his voice holds such a caring tone. She’s used to this kind of telling off from Queenie though, and isn’t quite sure what to say to somebody else who seems to care for her. She doesn’t want to answer him back in the usual sarcastic manner that she would go her younger sister, so she just shrugs and then sits down at the kitchen table.

 

Newt stirs her mug of tea, adding in a dash of honey before he hands it to her. “Thanks, Newt.” Tina says quietly, using the heat from the mug to warm up her hands. She takes a sip from the warm beverage, it’s temperature soothing her throat. He sits in the chair beside her and drinks his own cup of tea, staring into space for a little while before speaking up again.

 

“I should brew some Pepperup,” he muses aloud, before taking another long drink.

 

“If Rosier was home you could knock for ingredients,” Tina points out.

 

He frowns slightly and looks at her. “But, I already _have_ all of the correct ingredients.” Newt tells her.

 

“Well, she doesn’t know that does she?” Tina laughs a little, her glasses then steaming up from her tea.

 

Newt smiles at that, watching as she scrunches her nose in annoyance and removes them. “Oh, I see your point.” He replies, her smile contagious as she turns to look at him. “Well, I’ll brew it now and then when she’s back I’ll knock. Deal?” The wizard counteracts and earns a satisfied nod from the witch beside him.

 

He gets to his feet and drinks down the last of his tea, placing the now empty mug carefully into the sink. “You can come too,” Newt offers, leaving the room and going over to the case. Tina follows him shortly after, taking refuge on a wooden stool that’s stood beside his workbench. She watches on as he retrieves a small cauldron and then starts opening and closing various drawers, collecting different ingredients.

 

After a while the Magizoologist notices that the guest in his case is growing quite uncomfortable, so he stops adding ingredients to the potion for a moment and looks over at her. “I’m almost done, you should go and get some rest.” He tells her, but of course she brushes his words off and declines the suggestion by insisting that she’s alright. Newt finishes adding each item into the cauldron then starts mixing, and after almost forty minutes have passed it's finally finished and he can leave it to stand and cool off.

 

The man walks up to Tina, towering above her slightly due to the fact that she’s sat down. He carefully brings his hand towards her face, brushing her fringe out of her eyes which causes her to flinch slightly but she doesn’t take her eyes off of his freckled features. Newt softly presses the back of his palm to her forehead. “What was that you were saying about being alright?” He asks, his voice practically a whisper.

 

Tina rolls her eyes, turning away from him. “Stop it, Newt.” She mumbles.

 

“I think you really ought to go and take a nap… look, even Pick agrees with me!” Newt persists, dropping his hand back by his side and the witch glances upwards to see that the Bowtruckle is squeaking in her direction.

 

A smile forms upon her face and she stands up from her seat. “Fine,” Tina murmurs. “But… only for Pickett.” She smirks, trying not to laugh at the creature sticking its tongue out at Newt upon hearing her joke.

 

The witch then heads up and out of the case, followed shortly behind by Newt. He ensures that she gets into bed and then he gently removes her glasses for her, with the full intention of her getting some well needed sleep. “I’ll bring the Pepperup in a moment, you just rest. I’ll get anything if you need it.” He tells her, already going over towards the door.

 

“Hey, Newt?” The brunette causes him to stop walking, and then slowly turn. “Thanks.” Tina smiles, and it’s a smile that Newt would describe as carrying a sunshine warmth.

 

She snuggles down against the pillow after this and he’s left with his own thoughts of his sweet he finds her. The Magizoologist attempts at shaking away these thoughts; he’s a stranger to them… having never really cared for anything but his creatures, and now as well as carrying quite a lot of concern for this woman he also finds her… _attractive? Adorable, kind, funny, cute._ “Stop it,” Newt mutters under his breath as he unlatches the case and climbs in, getting down into the shed and becoming engulfed in a small cloud of steam that’s emitting from the potion.

 

He sighs to himself, then pours the liquid into a goblet. When he tiptoes back into the bedroom, the wizard isn’t surprised to find Tina fast asleep and snoring. Newt smiles slightly then places the goblet carefully against her bedside table and takes a seat on the bed beside her, to ensure that her fever doesn’t worsen whilst she’s asleep.

 

It’s been roughly an hour since Tina had fallen asleep and by now Newt has almost dropped off to sleep himself, but then the woman beside him begins to stir and he quickly shakes himself back into reality. “Tina?” The man’s voice is soft, as he leans across to feel her forehead. She still feels unnaturally warm but it isn’t any worse than when he’d last checked, so that’s something at least.

 

She groans, her eyes slowly opening. The Auror attempts at forming a sentence but begins to cough instead, and Newt hurries to hand her the potion to drink. Tina pulls herself into a sitting position and takes it from him, already beginning to drink it down before he’s sat on the bed again. After consuming about a quarter of the potion she takes a break, taking a few deep breaths and leaning back against the headboard. The Magizoologist observes her movements, hoping that she starts to feel better very soon.

 

“How are you feeling now?” Newt asks.

 

“Considerably worse,” the woman replies honestly, her voice further proving her point also.

 

“Is there anything I can do?”

 

Tina smiles. “You should probably go make sure that Rosier isn’t back, I’ll be alright.” She tells him.

 

The wizard clearly hesitates for a few moments before getting up and heading towards the bedroom door. He takes another glance towards Tina before he goes and then wanders into the living room. There’s no sign of anybody outside on the street so the man calls up to Tina that he’s just going out for a moment, and heads off to knock on her door… sure enough there’s no answer and Newt heads right back again. He returns inside of the house and ascends the stairs once again, stepping into the bedroom to where Tina is sat rereading his book. She looks over the top of it, a slightly sheepish expression worn across her flushed features.

 

“It’s a good book,” the woman mumbles.

 

Newt feels himself start to blush, and quickly changes the subject. “She’s not home,” he says.

 

“We can try again tomorrow,” the brunette suggests, her eyes still watching the pages in front of her. “I was thinkin’ I should sleep on the couch tonight, I don’t wanna keep you awake or get you sick, Newt.” Tina adds.

 

He frowns immediately at her words and steps closer towards the bed. “No, I’ll sleep on there. You stay in the bed.” He tells her simply.

 

“But —“

 

“Tina… you’re going to hurt your voice if you argue for any longer. I’ll sleep on the couch, I really don’t mind.” His voice is softer this time as he sits against the edge of the bed and looks her way.

 

She sighs slightly but nods. “Alright,” Tina answers. “Thank you.”

 

+


	12. Mission Day 22.

+

 

**_Sunday: Day Twenty Two of the Mission._ **

 

It’s almost four o’clock in the morning when Newt becomes awakened by the sound of squeaking in his ear and the feeling of a scratch against his face, causing him to open his eyes in order to work out what all the fuss could be about. “Pickett, what on Earth are you doing?” The man grumbles, feeling an ache in his back as he sits up. He listens as the twig-like creature tells him that Tina is hurting, and as if on cue Newt hears movement against the flooring upstairs followed by a series of coughs. “Thank you, Pick.” He whispers, putting the little creature back into his pyjama shirt pocket and getting to his feet.

 

Newt hurries upstairs then tiptoes towards the bedroom, using his knuckles to gently knock against the half open door. “Tina, is everything okay in there?” He asks a little louder, awaiting an answer before going in. “Lumos,” he whispers, holding out his wand.

 

“Um… no,” a small voice returns his question and the wizard pushes the door open the rest of the way. He observes the witch sat in the centre of the bed, her knees hugged to her chest and her head face downwards. When Tina looks up at him his heart breaks a little; her cheeks are still as flushed as earlier but there’s tear stains running in separate tracks all the way down, and her eyes are shimmering with fresh tears that are still forming. “I didn’t say you could come in.”

 

“Tina, what ever happened?” He whispers, joining her by her side. He brushes some hair out of her eyes, not even needing to feel her forehead to know that she’s burning up.

 

“I had a nightmare… kinda stupid really,” the woman laughs a little, but there’s no humour in the sound.

 

Newt puts his wand against the mattress and meets her gaze. “It isn’t stupid,” he tells her, watching as another few tears fall and land against her pyjama outfit. She bows her head and stares downwards, avoiding his gaze like he does so often to everybody else. He inhales slowly and then holds his arms open, waiting for her to notice. At first she looks up again with a confused expression, but then Tina gives in and falls into his arms, letting him hold her for a few minutes until she can calm herself down again.

 

“Better?” He asks finally, after their embrace ends and her breathing has now slowed back to its normal pace again.

 

The brunette nods, sniffing slightly. “Thanks, Newt.” She mumbles, rubbing her eyes with a yawn.

 

He picks up his wand, getting rid of the light bearing charm and placing it on the table. Newt switches on the lamp, then looks back towards Tina. “I’m going to get a cold cloth for your fever, alright? Just settle back down and I’ll be back in a moment.” He informs her, then leaves the room by apparating to make it quicker.

 

When he returns a few minutes later she’s lying down against her pillow, so he sits down on the bed beside her and gently presses the cloth to her forehead after carefully removing the hair out of the way first. Tina grimaces a little, clearly tensing up from the contrast between temperature changes caused by what he’s doing. “Sorry,” he whispers, but she soon relaxes into his touch and starts to drift off to sleep.

 

Newt doesn’t leave her side until she’s in a deep enough sleep to stop murmuring, and then he continues to assist in cooling her down for another half an hour. After getting rid of the cloth the wizard finds himself heading back into the bedroom, ensuring that she hasn’t pulled the duvet across herself too much. He stands beside the bed for a few moments just contemplating what to do, then he climbs onto the mattress. He’s much too concerned for her wellbeing to leave her alone for the night, so he’ll just have to sit beside her and make sure she’s safe.

 

Five hours pass and Tina wakes up to the sunlight streaming through the tiny gap in the curtains. The witch is rather pleased to realise that she can now inhale and exhale a lot easier through her nose, her sore throat has practically been diminished and there’s no longer an uncomfortable chill in her body either — the Pepperup must have worked it’s last bit of magic during the early hours of the morning after she’d fallen back to sleep. The woman sighs contentedly, then stretches out her arms… only for them to bump into something. And, that something just groaned. The Auror almost yelps when she realises that it’s Newt laying beside her, and she assumes that he’d stayed by her side after her nightmare and when her fever had spiked too.

 

“Tina? Are you better?” His groggy tone mumbles, and she giggles softly.

 

“Much so,” Tina smiles. “Thank you.”

 

Newt opens his eyes to see her sat above him and he smiles too. “Hello,” the wizard says, causing her to laugh once again.

 

The pair of them then begin prepare for their day, getting washed and dressed one after the other in different rooms like usual. It’s almost eleven when their breakfast bowls are cleared into the sink after re entering the room once they’ve brushed their teeth. “You could go and knock for Rosier again,” Tina says quietly. “Ask for some Bicorn horn.” She clears her throat, still a little affected by the same symptoms from the day before.

 

He nods in agreement, leaning up against the kitchen door frame. “I’ll be back in a moment then,” Newt says, walking over to retrieve his coat from where it’s hanging up by the front door.

 

“Be careful!” Tina calls out before he goes, earning a wide smile from him as he steps into the cool air and begins the short journey towards the woman’s household.

 

When he reaches the front door the wizard takes a minute to collect himself and then he knocks firmly against it two times. He isn’t overly surprised when she answers the door, because neither he nor Tina were awake early enough to surveil. “Hello,” the wizard greets. “I have a bit of a request to make… you see my fiancé is feeling rather unwell and I was wondering if you had any Bicorn horn?” Newt asks, glancing up at her ice cold stare.

 

“Come in,” she offers, taking him by immediate surprise and he almost chokes on air. “I’ll have a look.”

 

Newt steps inside of her house, somewhat wondering if he should be fearing for his life at this present moment in time. He glances around, looking for someone that could help the investigation but nothing seems to jump out. The Magizoologist waits in the hallway, peering into the kitchen to the right and then noticing that the living room door is shut. Eventually Rosier returns from upstairs with a bottle but not the potion ingredient that he’d specifically asked for. “I don’t have any Bicorn horn, but I have some cough syrup.” She informs him, holding it out for him to take. “Sorry.” She smiles, and Newt is even more confused.

 

“Th… thanks,” he mutters. He takes the medicine and leaves, turning back once he’s outside to reveal that she’s still watching him. The woman’s wave as he looks and Newt just about manages to bring himself to wave back before going back home again. When he lets himself inside he finds Tina in the living room and goes towards her so that he can tell her about the strange happenings that he’s just experienced.

 

“What’s that?” The brunette asks, referring to the brown shade of bottle in his hand.

 

“Cough medicine,” Newt replies. “So, she let me inside the house but I couldn’t see anything out of the ordinary… she seemed different to the last time. She smiled at me.” He says, still frowning.

 

Tina starts to laugh a little. “Different as in… flirty different? ‘Cause I wasn’t there d’you think?” She suggests.

 

“Oh, maybe… I — I really didn’t think of that,” he admits, moving towards the door in order to dispose of the bottle — he doesn’t trust her enough to actually use it for himself let alone give it to Tina.

 

The witch follows his movements, realising what he’s doing. “That’s probably best,” she agrees, watching as he puts it into the trash. Tina sits down at the kitchen table and props up her chin with the palm of her right hand. “You should play on the flirting thing, it could help us.” She says quietly, and he nods with slight reluctance.

 

“I’ll try.” Newt replies.

 

It’s a little later on in the evening when the Auror is jotting down notes in her journal by the window when she looks up and notices that Rosier is crossing the street towards Louisa’s house. The woman knocks a few times before the door opens and then the two of them go inside together. “Hey, Newt,” Tina calls, facing her gaze towards him where he sits a few metres away on the couch. “She just went into Louisa’s place.”

 

“I wonder what they could be talking about? Louisa said they weren’t close,” he replies, his frown mirroring her own look of confusion too.

 

Tina continues to subtly take various glances up out of the window until the woman reemerages out onto the doorstep almost twenty five minutes later. The Auror quickly bows her head, waiting for Rosier to cross the street again and disappear from sight before she looks up once more. “We’ll have to find a safe moment to ask her,” she suggests aloud.

 

“Please don’t invite her here again,” Newt mutters, his eyes fixated on the book that he’s currently reading.

 

The woman laughs slightly. “Well, when undercover needs must, Scamander.” She replies and gets to her feet. “I’m gonna get ready for bed.”

 

When Tina has left the room Newt finishes reading the chapter that he was on and bookmarks the new page, then makes his way upstairs to prepare for the night too. Since his pretend partner is feeling so much better now they’ve both decided to continue to share a bed and he climbs in fifteen minutes later to be beside her. She’s already snuggled up with her eyes closed, and this time her breathing is just slightly snuffled which further indicates that his healing potion has clearly worked. He smiles to himself whilst settling down, then closes his own eyes and drifts away into a land of dreams.

 

+


	13. Mission Day 23.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, since it’s almost Christmas and I’ve actually completed this fic in my google documents... I’m going to update every day from now on! Yaaaay. :D

+

 

**_Monday: Day Twenty Three of the Mission._ **

 

Tina is the first to wake up again, so she decides to be practical with her alone time since she feels back to normal this morning. She figures that she should make another pretend work outing later on, and jots that down in her journal so that it’ll remind her later. Then the witch prepares some pancakes for breakfast since that’s pretty much the only ‘cake’ that she can successfully create without burning it to a cinder. It’s almost nine when they’re served upon the table and Tina can hear Newt start to run the shower in the bathroom at this point. “Typical,” she mutters, placing his inside of the oven to stay warm.

 

He eventually comes down for breakfast half an hour later, looking rather grateful for the food. The wizard thanks her kindly and then eats up, although he seems a little more quieter than usual; they’ve gotten into the routine of discussing how his creatures are of a morning time and he usually starts the conversation off first. “Hey, you okay?” Tina questions, turning away from the sink for a moment whilst doing the dishes.

 

Newt nods. “Just a little out of routine — woke up a little late, some of the creatures were slightly restless. They’re alright now, I think the Niffler had been pestering Dougal overnight and they were all a bit tired.” He chuckles quietly, clearing his throat a second later.

 

“I was thinkin’ about going on another pretend work run, so I’ll head off soon and be back within the hour. Is that okay?” The Auror asks, earning a nod back.

 

After he’s finished breakfast Tina washes his cutlery and leaves it to dry before getting her coat and shoes on. She picks up one of the cake boxes from the kitchen, closing it up after putting an empty plate inside to imitate some weight. “I’ll be back soon!” She calls, closing the front door and then walking down the steps and on her way towards the outskirts of the city.

 

When the woman returns from her pretend outing with just the plate hiding in the inside of her coat, it’s now almost eleven. She looks across the street towards Rosier’s house to see that the curtains are now open unlike when she had left, but there’s no sign of the woman through the window. Tina crosses the street and goes back towards her own house, letting herself in and calling out to let Newt know that she’s back. Usually he shouts back an answer, but there’s no reply so she assumes that he’s doing something in the case. After taking off her shoes and hanging up her coat Tina checks the living room for the case, but finds something else instead… she finds Newt curled up on the couch, fast asleep.

 

He looks rather sweet and peaceful, but the brunette can’t help but feel worried all of a sudden — Newt has never taken a nap in their time here undercover. She tiptoes over to his side, noticing that he has a thick knit cardigan on instead of a thin waistcoat. “Newt?” She whispers, reaching out to gently shake his shoulder. The man stirs a little accompanied by a groan, but he doesn’t wake. Tina crouches down beside him then reaches up her hand to brush a few strands of hair out of his eyes, and gasps softly when she feels extreme warmth radiating off of him against her touch. “Newt, wake up.” Her voice is louder and so this time he slowly opens his eyes.

 

“Tina?” He mumbles sleepily.

 

“Newt, honey… you’re burnin’ up,” she whispers, calling him an endearing nickname without even meaning to. Tina’s much too concerned to notice and he’s too dazed to even register the words that leave her mouth. “I can make you more Pepperup… I’m so sorry I got you sick!”

 

The wizard frowns and sits himself up. He wraps his arms around his own torso and looks up into her eyes. “What did you say?” Newt asks, blinking slowly.

 

Tina giggles softly, overwhelmed by how endearing and downright adorable he is currently being. She had to take a deep breath before continuing and look away. “Uh, I’ll make you some more Pepperup.” The Auror repeats.

 

He lies back down again and shuts his eyes. “I don’t have any ingredients, I gave them to you and Pickett a few weeks ago.” The man explains, already starting to fall back to sleep.

 

Feeling worry start to form even more the witch starts to think of other options. “I’ll go to Louisa when she’s back from work… I can ask her about Rosier then too, the other neighbours are useless for information anyway. I doubt they’d help, and we still aren’t sure who are witches and who aren’t.” She mutters to herself.

 

Newt nods despite the fact that he hasn’t been listening. Tina shakes her head at him and then hurriedly goes into the kitchen to retrieve a wet cloth and a cool glass of water. She returns to his side as quickly as possible, pressing the cloth to his head and flinching when he yelps a little. “Sorry, Newt. It’s gotta be done.” She mumbles.

 

After being completely woken up by the ice cold feeling against his skin Newt then sits himself up and drinks some of the water, thanking Tina afterwards. She smiles at him before speaking once more. “Newt, you need to take that cardigan off.” The woman instructs, temporarily putting the cloth down onto the table so that she can help him.

 

“Why… don’t you like it?” He asks with a head tilt, causing Tina to laugh.

 

“No, dork… you’re too hot!” Tina exclaims, and then she realises what she’s just said to him out of context and turns a deep shade of beetroot.

 

Thankfully (for her) he doesn’t register what’s gotten her all embarrassed and accepts the help in removing a layer of clothing. The wizard then rolls up his sleeves and leans back against the couch with a prolonged sigh. “I’m cold,” he complains.

 

“I feel bad, okay? I’m sorry,” Tina mutters, reaching up to carry on dabbing his head. She moves into the couch so that she can reach him better and finds herself comfortingly rubbing the top of his palm with the thumb on her free hand. Newt smiles at the gesture and shuts his eyes, clearly overcome by exhaustion from the sudden fever.

 

Almost an hour passes and the witch starts to think of new ideas in bringing his temperature down. She apparates to buy some Aspirin and more honey for his tea, returning as quickly as possible and handing him the pills. “Louisa should be back by evening… do you want anything to eat?” Tina asks, wondering about preparing some soup. “How’s some soup sound?”

 

“Yes please,” Newt replies. “I’d better check on the creatures whilst you prepare it.” He adds, standing up but being stopped by Tina’s outstretched hand.

 

“Newt, no.” She says sternly. “You gotta rest!”

 

He frowns at her and tries to step past, but she simply steps directly in the way of his path. “The only compromise is that I come with you and  _ then _ I prepare the soup.”

 

“Fine.” The wizard grumbles, folding his arms across his chest.

 

_ “Fine,” _ Tina smirks.

 

They both climb down into the case and Newt takes a moment to breath when they reach the bottom. Tina stands closeby with a clear look of concern on her face whilst she waits for him to start walking again, then she follows him outside after he’s collected a few items and prepared them. “Could you bottle feed Beatrice for me?” The man asks, turning to hand her a baby bottle.

 

Feeling quite privileged to be trusted in caring for his newest rescue, Tina takes the bottle and nods. “Of course!” She answers happily, following him to a clearing where the baby unicorn is playing under a tree. The creature runs up to Newt and nuzzles up against him, and he laughs whilst petting her back.

 

“Hey there, look what I got!” Tina coos softly, getting onto the floor and holding out the bottle towards the magical being. The unicorn seems to feel more comfortable around the witch this time and accepts her as being the person who’s going to feed her today, bouncing on her hooves excitedly after finishing. The Auror laughs as the creature leaps up and down around her, as if she’s trying to play.

 

Newt is watching from a nearby tree stump, sat atop of it and grinning at the scene that’s unfolding. “You’re a natural, Tina.” He says.

 

“Really?” Her eyes meet his and they’re full of wonder, something Newt can’t help but admire.

 

“Really.” The Magizoologist nods after maybe a little too long staring at her eyes, then hops up to his feet again. “Come on!” He tells her, heading further through the trees towards Dougal. He inspects the usually invisible creature and has a little chat, but then the Demiguise jumps out of his arms and wanders up towards Tina.

 

After Newt has sneezed she realises the creature’s reasoning and starts to laugh. “I think Dougal wants  _ me  _ to take care of him!” Tina teases, smirking at Newt who looks less than amused by this. The brunette giggles then lets the creature return to its little house, before stepping closer to Newt. “Only kiddin’,” she grins.

 

He can’t help but smile back, but it’s clear he’s feeling worse as he sits back down again against the dirt. “Let’s go back upstairs,” the witch suggests and is mildly surprised to find that he doesn’t argue with her this time. So, they return to the living room and he takes a seat on the couch. But, Newt is beginning to shiver quite harshly and she knows that he could really do with the Pepperup potion right about now.

 

“You’re gonna have to take your shirt off.” She blurts out, not meaning to sound so… dramatic about it all.

 

“Excuse me?” He asks, eyebrows raised.

 

Tina inhales sharply. “To being your temperature down,” she explains properly this time. “The Aspirin should hopefully start to work, but for now you need to remove another layer and then just rest for a few hours until I can brew the potion. Okay?” She asks.

 

Newt looks fairly uncomfortable about the sudden request, although he isn’t completely sure as to why he feels so nervous about Tina seeing him shirtless. Pushing the anxious thoughts towards the back of his mind and retrieving the care for his health instead, the wizard starts to slowly unbutton his shirt and then he tugs it off. He hears Tina audibly gasp, and he knows right away that she’s looking at his scars. “They’re… they’re just from the creatures. They meant no harm, Tina.” He says quietly, suddenly becoming timid and reserved.

 

“Sorry, I didn’t mean to —“

 

“It’s alright.” He interrupts, not wanting her to feel sorry for him.

 

The Magizoologist looks up from the floor as she looks up from his chest, and she smiles. “Y’know…” she begins, staring to smile a little wider. “That’s kinda badass.” Tina jokes.

 

He laughs a little before lying back down, paying the price for becoming amused as he begins to cough. “You rest now, okay?” Tina whispers soothingly, running her fingers slowly through his hair. It doesn’t take long for him to become contented enough to fall back to sleep from her comforting gestures, and soon his snores fill the living room.

 

After a few hours of Newt falling in and out of his light slumber, Tina finally spots Louisa returning from work. She hurries into the hallway to slip on her shoes and coat, practically running out of the door now in dire need of the potion ingredients over finding out any intel. She knocks at the woman’s door, hopping impatiently from foot to foot as she waits. When the black haired female finally answers Tina releases a breath of relief. “Do you have any Pepperup ingredients? Newt's sick,” she explains without a pause in between, clearly taking Louisa by surprise.

 

“Gosh, I think I have… come on in for a second,” the woman offers, stepping aside to let her in.

 

Tina follows her through the hallway and into the kitchen, preparing herself to make her move and ask the questions about Rosier whilst she waits for Louisa to look for what she needs. “Hey, I was in the livin’ room yesterday and I noticed Rosier come over to yours… is she alright? I know she’s shy and I find it so hard to get her to come over for a drink. Have you finally cracked her or somethin’?” The undercover Auror asks, adding humour into the last part with a falsified laugh.

 

“Well, I dunno… you see she was askin’ me if I was interested in a new wizarding idea. It’s about the future and a better place for our kids, and I’ve always wanted kids so I guess maybe she was askin’ ‘cause I seem like a good mom? I told her it’d be nice for it all to happen and then she said I could join her when she goes to see her friends next. Apparently they’re helping her to spread the word.”

 

Feeling her heart practically skip a beat, Tina has to physically shake herself out of an incoming trance. “Oh wow, that sounds great! D’you think she’d invite me too? Is it happenin’ soon?” The brunette asks just as Louisa exclaims  _ ‘aha!’ _ and makes her jump.

 

“Here ya go!” The woman smiles, holding out the two ingredients that she came for. “And as for those questions, I honestly don’t know. She’s a strange women in her ways but maybe I’m finally becomin’ her friend. You ask her about it, okay! Let me know if you’re going to meet her friends and we can sit together too!” Louisa beams.

 

“Thanks, I will,” Tina replies, attempting at as much enthusiasm as she possibly can whilst the concern about Newt and now this fairly big lead both running circles in her mind.

 

She leaves the house and quickly heads back across the road to hers, getting inside and removing her extra clothing before hurrying towards the case. Newt is now somewhat awake on the couch, but right now her main concern is to brew this potion and then she can concentrate on both filling him in on the new information and coming up with a plan.

 

Once the healing concoction is complete the Auror climbs back out of the case and finds Newt sat up, pulling at a loose thread on his cardigan that’s folded up against the arm of the couch. “Here,” Tina says, making him jump a little. “Sorry.” She whispers. The woman takes a seat beside him and hands him the goblet.

 

“Thank you,” his voice sounds painfully scratchy and Tina sighs.

 

“I feel bad,” she says without thinking, looking up at him with quite a sad smile.

 

Newt takes a sip of the liquid, leaning back into the cushions behind him. “Please don’t,” he replies. “I’m glad I took care of you.” He reveals a shy smile, diverting his eyes back down to the potion as he takes another drink.

 

Tina isn’t sure if he’s blushing or he’s just flushed from the fever. Yet Newt knows that it’s a definite mixture of both.

 

After sleeping for the majority of the day this meant that Newt failed to sleep through the night and awakens at two in the morning feeling ready for the day. He’s rather shocked to find that Tina is also awake beside him, writing notes in her journal and using her wand as a light. “Tina? What’re you doing?” He whispers, yet she jumps as if he’s just yelled something in her ear.

 

“Newt, you scared me… how’re you feelin’?” She asks, closing the journal and trading the light from her wand for the bedside lamp instead.

 

“I think the fever has gone, so better thank you. What’s going on?” He asks, rubbing his eyes before looking at her once again.

 

Tina inhales deeply, and even goes as far as casting the sound proofing charm before explaining to him what she had found out earlier. Once she’s finished he looks significantly more shocked and he’s a little unsure of what to even say. “We should write a letter to Graves,” he says eventually.

 

“I was just doin’ a draft, but we need a little more evidence. I was wonderin’ if you could get any kind of information out of her through our plan from a couple days ago? I’m gonna try too… maybe invite her for drinks again tomorrow afternoon?” Tina lists off suggestions as Newt listens intently to what she has to say.

 

“So, what if I go to her in then morning and say you’re working on a cake and then you invite her in the afternoon with offers of cake and drinks?” He lengthens their plan and Tina nods.

 

She yawns before replying, stretching out her arms. “Good idea,” the brunette states. “Now let’s try get some sleep.”

 

+


	14. Mission Day 24.

+

 

**_Tuesday: Day Twenty Four of the Mission._ **

 

The clock has just about passed being seven a.m. when both Tina and Newt are awoken by his own coughing fit. The Auror groans and reaches out of the bed to hit her alarm clock. “Well, I’d set it for eight but seven is okay too,” she mumbles sleepily, somehow managing to get out of the duvet and stand up without falling back over again. She turns to Newt, who’s still lying down. “You okay?” Tina asks.

 

“I told you I should’ve slept on the sofa last night,” he says, eyes still closed.

 

Rolling her eyes, Tina picks up her wand. She summons her clothes towards her and makes her way towards the bedroom door. “Well, I told you that you shouldn’t have.” The woman retorts, sending him a quick smile before going into the bathroom to get ready. Once she returns fully dressed and ready for the day the wizard has just about made it into a sitting position. The witch takes a seat at the end of the bed and turns to face him.

 

“You sure you’re up to talkin’ to Rosier today?” She says, her voice quiet so as not to alert any possible eavesdroppers nextdoor.

 

He quickly nods and starts getting out of the bed. “I have to,” Newt replies. “For all we know the endgame is in play!” He whispers.

 

“I think this is prior the endgame… she said ‘friends’ firstly, and I don’t think she’d bring anyone to meet him on the first try. They must be kinda desperate for followers though, I mean, if she’s takin’ Louisa… I guess finding people is harder when you’re underground. But, no — I think they’re testin’ the waters at least for a while, ‘cause they can’t just bring anyone around I guess.” Tina tries to put her late night thoughts into words and it seems as if he gets it, because he nods right back.

 

She then pauses for a while before continuing. “Plus we need more solid evidence and even if they do leave for this thing soon we can’t exactly follow them yet. We’d risk blowing our cover for somethin’ that could just be tea and cake.” The brunette sighs heavily.

 

“We’ll get something soon. I’ll get ready and knock around there,” Newt reassures her, then heads into the bathroom.

 

Once they’ve both consumed their breakfasts and the Magizoologist has fed his creatures, he starts to put on his boots so that he can go around to Rosier’s. Tina notices how out of breath he seems to be from going down into the case and sighs quietly to herself. “Hey, Newt?” She asks, unable to stop herself from caring once again. He looks up. “Could you maybe show me how to feed the animals, um, I read your book of course but I was thinkin’ I could maybe feed them tonight whilst you rest? I dunno, if you want… I mean.” The woman starts to ramble a little, avoiding looking over towards his gaze.

 

But, what she doesn’t see is that he’s smiling. When the wizard gets back up to his feet she finally diverts back towards his eyes again and notices that he doesn’t look unhappy with her, but in fact quite the opposite. “That’s rather thoughtful of you, Tina, thank you.” He tells her. “I can show you maybe this afternoon?” Newt offers, and she starts to grin; he trusts  _ her _ with the thing that is the most precious to him.

 

“Sure!” She beams. “Now be careful… okay?” Tina utters sincerely, watching as he leaves out of the door.

 

“I will,” he promises, giving her another smile before shutting it behind him and making his way down the steps.

 

The wizard knocks against the neighbouring household and waits for the resident  inside to answer. She eventually emerges and opens the front door to greet him, asking what he needs. “Well, Tina and I were wondering if you’d want to have a drink with us this weekend? I thought we could get to know one another a little better.” He says, forcing himself to initiate eye contact and smile.

 

“That’s awfully kind of you… I’m just not very sociable.” She says. “Newt, would you step inside for a moment? You sound in need of that syrup I gave you, is there any left?”

 

Trying to think on his feet the wizard hurriedly shakes his head in response to her question before following her inside. Rosier heads upstairs again and re-emerges a minute or two later, this time holding a different shaded bottle. “It’s unopened, I bought it a couple days ago in case you needed some more…” the woman trails off. “Can I ask you something?” She asks, before handing him the bottle.

 

“Of course,” comes his reply as he takes it, quite eager to gain extra evidence.

 

“Do you ever just wish that we didn’t have to hide?”

 

Newt gulps. “What, um… what do you mean?” He asks, attempting at sounding subtle but unsure whether or not the fear is creeping up into his voice.

 

“Well, I wish I could go to a school and teach no-maj kids about magic. Wouldn’t it be wonderful?” Rosier sighs. “You’d better get back and rest, anyway. I just keep wishing… it’s just a dream I share with a few old friends.” She shrugs, leading him back towards the front door.

 

When the Magizoologist steps outside he gives her a small smile. “That sounds like quite a nice dream to follow for the future,” he comments.

 

The woman smiles back. “Doesn’t it?”

 

Once she’s closed the door Newt apparates back inside of his own house to where Tina is writing her letter to Graves at the kitchen table. She looks up when he enters, awaiting what he has to say. “Right, this could either be a completely innocent coincidence but she said she doesn’t want us to hide anymore and that she wishes she could show no-maj children magic.” He whispers, observing as Tina’s expression changes from a look of curiosity to one of realisation as her eyes widen.

 

“What else did she say?” Tina turns back to her letter and carries on writing.

 

“Well, she said that her and a few old friends share the dream and then I agreed that it was a nice dream to follow for the future and she agreed. That was it, but I do feel like it wasn’t just a coincidence really. She declined our invitation too; she told me she just wasn’t sociable.” He finalises.

 

The woman finishes off her letter and places a stamp against the envelope. “Alright, I’m gonna post this and get some groceries, then we’ll basically have to keep watch on Louisa to see when she leaves with Rosier — her turning us down could mean that the meet is this weekend. So, that’ll be our next move, to find out  what happened.” She informs him, exiting into the hallway and putting on her coat.

 

“I’ll meet you in the case when you get back,” Newt says, earning a warm smile in return.

 

“Can’t wait.” Tina grins.

 

The Magizoologist then moves into the living room to write an entry in his journal, taking his usual place against the window seat and then waving to the woman out of the window as she leaves along the sidewalk in the direction of the store.

 

She returns within the hour and isn’t shocked to find out that he hadn’t observed anything worth telling her about — not even a dog this time. Tina unloads the grocery bags in the kitchen after politely declining his help, then goes back into the living room again. “I got you some cough drops,” the Auror announces, throwing him the packet which he of course misses by a mile. “Sorry!” Tina chuckles slightly. After retrieving them from the floor he thanks her and opens up the packet, placing one inside of his mouth. 

 

When the night draws in and the moon is illuminating the bedroom, Tina eventually climbs out of the case and back up into the bedroom. She’d fed each and every creature, cuddled Beatrice and convinced the Niffler to leave her pretend engagement ring alone — she forgot to take it off, she is becoming… comfortably used to wearing it.

 

The pair had spent over two hours in the case that same afternoon and Newt had taught her a little more intricately how to feed his creatures that were down there, giving  her the personal details rather than the factual ones from his book. They’d toured the habitats once again and Tina felt the same magical bewilderment that she’d felt the first time that she had settled eyes upon the place. Newt had then slept for the majority of the hours in the afternoon after that, whilst the witch kept a subtle eye on what was happening in the streets outside; although nothing came to be and the rest of the day was unsettlingly quiet.

 

Upon climbing into the bed beside him the man stirs, clearly not quite asleep as he clears his throat to say something. “Did they take to you alright, Tina?” Newt asks, sitting up and switching on the lamp. As the colour yellow brightens their surroundings he notices a slight scratch on her hand, and takes it into his own without thinking. “You’re bleeding,” he says softly, concern evident across his face as he inspects the minor wound.

 

“Oh, it’s nothin’,” the Auror chuckles. “I just scratched myself as I was reachin’ up to feed the Bowtruckles in their tree.” She explains further.

 

Newt reaches for his wand that’s resting upon the bedside table and casts a spell do that a small bandage covers the area of her hand that is injured, and then he lets go. “Thank you for doing that for me,” the wizards says softly. He puts his wand back down again and switches off the lamp, resting his head back against the pillow.

 

“Thank you for trustin’ me to do so.” Tina replies happily, then also lies herself down.

 

They both sigh a little and close their eyes, their bodies closer than usual but neither of them seem to mind. “Goodnight,” each whisper simultaneously as their hands brush together under the covers.

 

+


	15. Mission Day 28.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for such a short chapter, but we’re close to the end now and soon it all gets dramatic so I didn’t want to ruin the next chapter by adding two days in one!

+

 

**_Saturday Day Twenty Eight of the Mission._ **

 

Both Newt and Tina wake up at the same time again today then get ready and finally eat breakfast together in the kitchen. The brunette washes the dishes using a simple charm whilst the Magizoologist goes down into his case to feed his creatures. The both of them are planning to just keep an eye on their mysterious neighbour today after the recent developments relating to her, since nothing really happened in the week due to Louisa being at work and the fact that Rosier never really leaves the house of a weekday — according to Louisa the woman has a stay at home job that involves embroidery, which was another of the fairly useless facts they learned that night full of wine and uncomfortable socialising.

 

They spend the whole morning passing by the windows to try and catch their neighbours leaving for the meeting, but to no luck. They received a reply letter from Graves, telling them to keep up the good work and that he needs a little more solid evidence to move in with them — such as a specific location or at least the mention of Grindelwald if they can’t get anything else from her. By the time noon passes them by Tina is making her way to the front door. “I’m gonna knock on Louisa’s and then Rosier’s,” she explains. “Keep lookout.” The woman crosses the street and knocks, waiting for a few moments before giving up. Sure enough she gets no answer from the house beside theirs either, and the fact that Louisa wouldn’t turn down a chance to chat is enough for her to deduce that they’re at the meeting already. The Auror goes back inside, taking off her coat and joining Newt again in the living room.

 

“Do you think they’re already there?” He asks, looking up at her.

 

“They must be… we’ll have to try and talk to Louisa without causin’ too much suspicion soon.” Tina replies.

 

**_2 hours later…_ **

 

_ The two women materialise back into the hallway in the same way they had left. Louisa hangs up her coat and turns to Rosier, who smiles down at her newest recruit. “Remember what we talked about, alright?” She hands her an envelope. “Give this to Tina on Friday — I’m terribly busy all week, but I’ll be available then. I feel like you can connect with her better and I’ll try with her fiancé… I don’t want their opinions to clash if they’re in the same room, you know?” _

 

_ Louisa nods. “I’ll get some cake in!” She beams, taking what she assumes to be an invitation. _

 

_ “Tina will most likely ask you about today, she seems eager to join our cause. I want you to tell her about our plans for the future and let me know if she comes around asking… I’m curious to see how invested she is with this. I’m hopeful for these two,” the woman finalises. _

 

_ “Fantastic! I’ll let you know, Rosier. Seeya soon!” _

 

_ “The date of our big meeting will be known soon and I hope to bring you all along. If Tina really does want to join us then tell her that the envelope will explain everything, okay?” _

 

_ Louisa nods.  _

 

**_An hour later…_ **

 

“Newt!” The witch calls from the living room, hurrying into the kitchen where he’s starting to prepare dinner. “Louisa’s our waterin’ her plants, so she’s back.” She informs him, and he stops chopping the vegetables to turn around.

 

“I could distract Rosier,” he offers. “Maybe I could thank her for the cough medicine? I don’t know what else to do.” The wizard muses aloud.

 

Tina nods. “Let’s do it.” She confirms, feeling her heartbeat get a little faster at the possibility of catching a further lead in their case.

 

She waits for him to catch Rosier’s attention first, lingering behind the doorway with it slightly ajar and listening out for his voice. The Auror breathes a sigh of relief when she finally hears Newt start to talk, and she continues to wait until as if by a miracle he gets invited inside. Then the woman apparates across the street and knocks against Louisa’s front door, glancing behind her shoulder out of the fear that Rosier could see her any minute. Finally despite it being barely a minute the neighbour appears before her, yet to to Tina it felt like eternity. “Hey, could I come in… I wanna talk,” she forces a smile, practically jumping through the door when Louisa accepts her offer.

 

“You wanna know about my meetin’, huh?” Louisa chuckles, leading her into the living room. When thenofher witch nods in reply she smiles and gestures for her to sit down. “Well… we talked about a better future. Witches livin’ among women with no powers, being friends. A better future for our kids — livin’ in harmony. It was eye openin’, it really was, Tina.” She explains, sighting contentedly at the end.

 

The Auror listens quietly, nodding for her to go on. “I met her friends, they were nice. They told me I should come to their bigger meetin’ about gettin’ this exciting future to happen! I don’t know when it is though, so don’t ask that… it’ll all be found out soon, don’t worry.” Louisa explains.

 

“You still don’t know if I can come?” Tina pretends to act disappointed, earning a comforting touch to her shoulder from the woman beside her.

 

“Look, I ain’t supposed to say anythin’ but I can tell you soon… I think you’re a contender for this rally. We’ll chat again next week, okay?” The woman says.

 

The brunette wonders why she’s been so cryptic and whether it’s based on Rosier’s orders. She assumes that Louisa hasn’t met Grindelwald yet, so she doesn’t mention it in fear of her cover being blown. “You mean the meetin’ is next Friday?” Tina asks, confusion clouding her mind.

 

“No! We just get to talk more about the exciting future together… I’m gonna get cake, but honest I shouldn’t have even said that!” She giggles.

 

“So, if we talk and I love the ideas I can join? ‘Cause I’d love to, honest.” The woman smiles, looking Louisa in the eye in an attempt to ensure that her words are truthful.

 

Louisa nods. “It’ll be like a final test,” she grins.

 

“Can’t wait.” Tina replies.

 

+


	16. Mission Day 34.

+

 

**_Friday: Day 34 of the Mission._ **

 

Neither of the pair manage a good night’s sleep due to their knowledge that tomorrow may be their biggest lead yet. On Monday Tina informed Graves via letter, not wanting to send it on Saturday to avoid raising suspicion of any kind. It’s mid-morning and they’re each staring at their breakfast, sighing softly every now and then. “Do you think I’ll get an invite to one of their meetings? This is the big break we’ve been doing this whole thing for.” The witch eventually breaks the silence, looking up at Newt. “This could be our last proper day together.”

 

“I hadn’t thought if it like that…” he trails off, a sudden look of sadness appearing upon his face. “We should do something to commemorate our success,” he manages a smile.

 

Tina chuckles. “Definitely,” she answers back, swirling her spoon in her porridge and staring down at the patterns that it make. “I’d be happy to just sit in your case with you… reflect on things tonight, depending on the date of the meetin’ I guess.”

 

“I can arrange that,” the Magizoologist agrees with a smile. He gets to his feet and scrapes the remaining of his uneaten food into the trash, before going upstairs to brush his teeth.

 

The brunette sighs heavily. “It’s a date,” she whispers.

 

For the next few hours they’re awaiting a knock at the door, knowing that Louisa should come around soon. It isn’t until ten minutes past six in the evening that the knock at the door sends them both into a frightful yelp, jumping in their seats where they’d been sat on the couch talking. “I’ll see you soon!” She announces, getting up. “We’ll call Graves tonight if it’s big news… if I play my part right.” Tina says, hurrying into the hallway when she hears yet another knock.

 

“Good luck!” Newt calls out, rushing to the window to watch her go. He observes her walking across the way with Louisa by her side, the pair of them already talking by the looks of it. He smiles when she turns and waves before stepping inside of the other house, and he returns the gesture just before she’s disappeared from sight.

 

When the Auror gets into Louisa’s living room she inhales slowly, trying to calm her nerves. The black haired woman seems as cheerful as ever which raises no alarms, so Tina manages to relax a little and start to converse about how much she agrees with the ‘future plan’ that Rosier has talked about and how she really wants to attend the next meeting that will go ahead. The time seems to fly by as they both talk about what happens at the meetings in a little more detail and how Tina would be a great asset since she’s a lot more confident than Louisa in her opinion. They get to talking about who attends the last meeting and the woman doesn’t mention one name that resembles that of the dark wizard’s. Finally, close to an hour has passed and then Louisa hands her the envelope given to her by Rosier just under a week prior to now.

 

“I assume this is your invitation,” she says happily. “I’ll see you soon, and I guess with Rosier!”

 

Tina thanks her, unable to hide her smile. _She did it… and this could lead to Grindelwald’s arrest._ “I’d better get back,” the brunette then announces, getting to her feet and brushing her self down to rid of the few stray cake crumbs that were left behind.

 

“It was super talkin’ to you, Tina!” Louisa exclaims gleefully, leading her back to the front door.

 

They each share a wave and Tina just about manages to conspicuously dodge an incoming hug. She then crosses back to the other side of the road again and has to restrain herself from running up the steps. Tina opens the front door, quickly casting a charm so that Rosier can’t hear her talking about what has just happened. “Newt!” She shouts, running into the living room. The woman frowns to see that he isn’t there, but that his case is still sat on the floor. “Newt? You in there?” The Auror figures he must’ve quickly fed the creatures whilst she was gone and gotten distracted, although she expected him to be keeping watch by the window.

 

But, he isn’t inside the case and each creature seems restless. Tina starts to feel a horrible sense of fear deep inside her gut, as she climbs the ladder and starts to search the house. “Newt?!” She yells, revealing that he isn’t in the bedroom either. Finally she sees that the bathroom door is open and the wizard is not in there. That’s every room in the house. Running down the stairs she bursts out of the front door, leaving it open without a cafe. She ascends the steps to the neighbouring house and hammers against the door. No answer.

 

“Finestro!” Tina casts against the front window, climbing inside of the living room. It’s dark and switching the light on reveals nothing out of place nor strange, but it simply shows that it’s empty… just like the rest of the house as she searches. The complete realisation settles in and she kneels down against Rosier’s bedroom floor, unable to even search for evidence out of the overwhelming feeling that she may have just lost Newt. Tears are already clouding her vision and her heart feels as if it may escape her own rib cage as she cries.

 

Grasping her necklace so tightly that it could cut through her skin, Tina shuts her eyes and waits. Barely a single minute passes by and Graves appears in the room before her accompanied by five other Aurors. Neither were expecting to find their newest recruit crouched on the floor crying, and when she jumps to her feet they each take a step back unsure of the situation. Percival has only ever seen her at her best; always striving to succeed. “Miss Goldstein, what happened?” He asks, his voice soft as he holds her arms and looks into her watery eyes.

 

“Newt… he’s gone! I had no idea it’d be a trap,” the Auror blurts out, her voice breaking towards the end. She remembers the envelope that she’s still clutching, and hands it to her boss. “The other neighbour gave me this, we were talkin’ about me hoping the cause and… and I thought I’d gotten a lead.” Tina sniffs, unable to look up at any of her colleagues out of the shame that she’s clearly failed.

 

Graves opens the letter with a single sharp nail, and scans the words. “You may pose a threat to us, Tina. I’m sorry but I must check.”

 

“She took him! I know she did… he wouldn’t leave unannounced, let alone leave his case behind too.”

 

Graves and the two of the Aurors apparate back to the undercover residence, leaving three behind to search for evidence and make sure that they’re ready if she returns. “Do you know where she may have taken him?” He asks his recruit, as they stand in the living room together.

 

Tina shakes her head and her gaze settles towards a book sat upon the coffee table. She walks towards it, taking Newt’s journal into her trembling hands…

 

**_Day three… me and Tina held hands today and I showed her my creatures. The way she shows an interest is rather exciting because I rarely meet anyone who cares enough to listen…_ **

 

**_Day nineteen… we had to kiss today to avoid being seen and although it was unexpected I found it quite (exciting? mesmerising? nice?) I’m unsure. Tina has beautiful eyes yet I cannot quite pinpoint what they remind me of yet._ **

 

**_Day twenty two… Tina had a nightmare and seeing her upset hurt me more than it has to see somebody sad before. She’s feeling unwell too and I hate to see her hurting. I’m not sure if this could be something related to what we are pretending to do. I suppose I don’t want to admit that I’m finally helping feelings for a person, really, and not a creature. I rather like Tina and I think I’m falling in love._ **

 

“Miss Goldstein? _Tina?_ ” Graves’ voice grows louder and louder, dragging her back into the real word just as she reads that final line.

 

She looks up at him, fresh tears tumbling down and following the old streak marks against her cheeks. “We gotta find him, Mr. Graves. _Please._ ”

 

+

 

Newt awakens to find himself inside of a dimly lit room, and as he tries to move the realisation of being bound at his ankles and wrists settles in. His surroundings start to become more in focus and that’s when the wizard can properly make out Rosier. She’d tricked him — tricked Tina too — and taken him whilst his undercover partner was gone. “Why did you do this?” He asks, groaning afterwards as the dull ache in his head worsens just from talking.

 

“Oh, you’re awake. Good… I have questions to ask.” Rosier states simply, holding out her hand to summon a chair into her outstretched palm. She takes a seat against it, now sat directly opposite him. She watches as Newt stares at the floor, trying to struggle against his restraints. “You’ll hurt yourself, Mr. Scamander. I’m only here to ensure you and your fiancé are not a threat to this cause.”

 

“Why would you tie me up? I agree with your wishes for muggle children seeing our magic!” He exclaims, unable to think completely clearly but being as careful as he can not to blow their covers.

 

Rosier leans back in her seat, a smirk teasing at her crimson lips. “It’s not that simple, you see… Tina has shown a lot of curiosity, and I figured you’re easier to get the truth out of.”

 

“What truth? I’m getting married to my fiancé and she was curious about something? Is that a crime?” The Magizoologist glances up at his captor, a frown forming across his pale features.

 

The woman shrugs. “She was asking a lot of questions. Do you believe in wizards being free to show their magic?”

 

Newt nods.

 

“Do you think we are _superior_ to the muggles?” A slightly unsettling smile is now upon her face and Newt is beginning to think that MACUSA certainly weren’t wrong. It’s as if she’s showing her true colours now that she’s alone in her own environment with him and she’s using this as some sort of twisted interrogation technique in order to get him to snap. _But, he’s not that easy to fool._

 

The wizard fakes a smile as best as he can. “Well, it wouldn’t hurt for us to be the superior race if we reveal ourselves. I mean, intellectually speaking it is quite true.”

 

She chuckles, getting out of her chair and closing the gap between them. “What about Tina? Why was she so curious… I can’t see her being one to follow orders.”

 

Inside of Newt’s mind he’s thinking how terribly wrong this witch is; this whole time she’s been following the orders that Graves has given her. “Yes, we do everything together and we’d be valuable members within this future vision.” He replies, each word that leaves his mouth being a lie.

 

“My boss sees her as a threat. I took you to see if you’d tell me the truth so now we will find out.” Rosier reaches into her deep black coat, and pulls out a vial that contains a clear solution.

 

The Magizoologist feels his heart start to race and a sickly feeling settles within the pit of his stomach. “Is… is that Veritaserum?” Newt stammers, starting to twist his wrists around again but it’s no use. And, Pickett cannot help him out of rope. “How did you get that?”

 

The witch laughs, the noise bouncing off of the walls and causing his ears to ring slightly. She steps a circle around his chair before removing the cork, and as the woman slowly starts to veer the serum towards his mouth Newt begins to writhe in his chair. “Why are you so nervous if you’ve been telling me the truth this whole time, Newt?” The brunette haired woman asks, pausing millimetres away from his pursed lips.

 

But, there’s only so much he can try and do to resist it and Rosier quite easily manages to use enough force with her magic to get him to cry out in pain and get a drop or two inside of his mouth. The wizard screws his eyes shut and starts to try and think of anything but Tina, but it feels like her name is on the tip of his tongue and the first question that Rosier asks is surely going to cause him to blurt out their secrets. Newt thinks of his creatures and his career, trying his very hardest to forget about MACUSA and this mission. It’s just no use.

 

“I am sorry about that pain, Newt. I need to ask you if you truly believe wizards should rule against normal people?” Her first question causes anger to bubble towards his surface — something he’d managed to keep under control before she’d used that potion in him.

 

She observes as he opens his eyes, beads of sweat now traveling from underneath his matted hair and down his cheeks after the painful jinx she’d cast. “No, I think it’s an obscured viewpoint from Grindelwald’s fanatics!” Newt exclaims, feeling himself start to tear up as he continues to struggle with keeping the secrets from being spilled.

 

Rosier scoffs loudly. “What makes you think I follow him? Who told you?”

 

“Mr. Graves at MACUSA thinks you’re working for him.”

 

The woman stops walking around the room and stands directly before him, her stare fixated on him as he continues to tug at the rope that binds him to the chair. “Are you working for MACUSA… is _Tina_ working for MACUSA?” Rosier asks, her tone completely cold.

 

Newt cannot compromise them and he closes his eyes and bites down on his tongue so hard that he starts to taste blood, but the potion is too strong and… “yes, we both are! She’s an Auror and we are both working undercover as fiancés!” His eyes break open and tears spill out, his gaze concentrated on her next movement. She looks angry, and she turns away from him. “Don’t you hurt her! Don’t hurt Tina!” He shouts as loud as his dry throat will permit, pulling so hard against the rope to try and get closer to her that the chair scrapes across the floor and almost topples over.

 

“Thank you for being truthful,” Rosier’s voice holds no emotion as she talks. “I must go.” She turns her back against him and walks slowly towards the staircase leading up into what must be a house.

 

“No!” The man cries out, the pained sound echoing around the room. “I love her.” Newt chokes out a sob, his limbs helplessly hitting the back of the chair as he stops struggling.

 

“Don’t hurt Tina…”

 

A small sigh leaves the woman who’s back is still turned. She hesitates before reaching fully up towards the bannister, her hand withdrawing and grasping her wand instead. “Stupefy!” The witch shrieks, the sheer force sending her victim into an unconscious state almost immediately. Rosier exhales, seemingly gaining a newfound state of calmness before apparating instead of opening the door as she had been about to moments before.

 

Rosier appears on the corner of the block where her house is situated, creeping out of the shadows to observe what might be happening across the street. Her plan is to kidnap Tina, but upon discovering her true career she now knows that there may be other Aurors on the premises since she took Newt already. Sure enough she spies a figure passing by her bedroom window, causing her to slink back around the corner and try to rethink what she has to do. The woman disapparates, a new plan inside of her head.

 

_“Sir, we have to move the rally to a much sooner date; the Aurors are closing in on us and they’ve infiltrated my house!”_

 

_“Rosier… have I lost your trust? Your loyalty, even?”_

 

_“No, Sir. I did not mean for this to happen and I already have one of the people who tricked me in my possession. He’s barely conscious… we can use him.”_

 

_“Very well. I’ll send out the signal by tomorrow night and you will be there with the one who betrayed me at five. I expect you’ve got plans for him in the meantime?”_

 

_“I’ll make him regret putting us at risk.”_

 

_“As for the other one?”_

 

_“Tina; she’s an undercover Auror, Sir. It’ll break her heart to see him die in the end.”_

 

_“Perfect.”_

 

+


	17. Mission Day 35.

+

 

**_Saturday: Day 35 of the Mission._ **

 

Throughout the morning Rosier and a few of the other followers have been switching shifts with Newt and he hasn’t spent a waking moment alone since she disapparated after knocking him unconscious the day before; which in turn means that he hasn’t been able to grasp at the tracking necklace. During the night he’d received a break from the infliction of pain, leading him to believe that maybe she wasn’t going to hurt him anymore due to the possibility that she really does like him. But, unfortunately the Magizoologist was rather wrong and it’s been six hours now since the first woman started ‘giving him what he deserves’ and Newt isn’t sure how much more of this tormenting he can endure.

 

“Tired now, Scamander?” The man grins; his darkened hair pressed tightly against his scalp and accent belonging quite a thick New Yorker’s. “Well we’re just gettin’ started! Orders and all.”

 

The wizard still bound to the chair feels a burning sensation slowly travel amidst his body, across his skin and up to his eyes. He feels them start to roll and knows he’s about to pass out — in all honesty Newt is surprised he’s made it three shift changes without losing consciousness, with Rosier being the first and most likely the worst yet in the form of spell casting. The second wizard was a lot more physical with his fists and talked a lot, which Newt was somewhat used to from his younger days and managed to block most of his verbal abuse out. This third wizard seems to enjoy hitting him with stunning jinxes and after one too many the Magizoologist is rendered out cold.

 

“Dammit!” The man curses, hitting the air with his fist in frustration. He apparates to the top of the staircase and his knuckles rap against the wooden door. “He’s out cold, someone else can come watch him.”

 

Eventually the door opens and Rosier reappears, a rather unamused expression pressed cold upon her features. “I _told_ you to keep him awake.” She snaps, pushing past him and descending the stairs so that each heel makes a crunching _click!_ noise against the elderly wood. The woman takes a seat on the chair that faces opposite Mr. Scamander and sighs, leaning back into it. Now all she has to do is wait… the witch could easily revive him and start all over again but quite frankly she knows that her boss is going to want him in somewhat of a good condition as an example of his so-called humane side that he’ll no doubt want to showcase tonight. So, she simply relaxes her muscles and closes her eyes too.

 

The wizard is only out for ten minutes, but once he comes back around again he keeps his eyes closed and head hung low in an attempt at pretending to still be unconscious. Eventually though Rosier grows bored of waiting for him to awaken, so after twenty more minutes of him managing to somewhat catch a break she  gets to her feet. The sound of her chair scraping so harshly across the floor causes her victim to junk in fright, and a smile curves her lips. “Faking it, were we?” The woman chuckles. She runs her wand down across his cheek, all the way towards his crimson splattered shirt collar. “I gotta clean you up in a few hours… but, we can have a little more fun for now!”

 

“Is… is Grindelwald arriving soon?” Newt questions, trying to spark conversation as a way to distract her from hurting him.

 

Rosier twirls her wand and allgins a new cut against his knuckles. “Nope.” She sing-songs, waltzing back over to her chair.

 

The sound of his breath hitching causes the woman to smirk as she takes a seat again, tapping her wand against the tips of her fingers. “You’ll see,” the witch states simply. “We’ll win in the end… just you wait.”

 

**_4 hours later…_ **

 

Each of the followers congregate down in the basement where Newt is being kept, and they chatter amongst themselves for just a few moments before nearing towards him. He closes his eyes and goes to a place in his mind that reminds him of true happiness; Tina helping him to take care of the beasts. He’s so deeply engrossed with trying to stay focused on his thoughts of a safe place that the wizard almost doesn’t register that he’s apparating until landing back against solid ground. His eyes are now wide open and taking in his new surroundings; everything is made of some form of stone and there are various statues scattered amongst the enlarged room. Newt can just about make out some sort of inscriptions against the statues and silently considers that he may be inside of a crypt of some kind… maybe in a cemetery even.

 

Rosier starts to wave her wand before him and begins to repair each rip and tear that has torn its way through his clothing; after the endurance of the harsh magical abilities and physical punishment that’s been thrown his way over the past nine hours. He grimaces as she presses a wet towel to his cheek, swiping away some stray blood that hasn’t quite dried. “That’ll do,” the woman mutters under her breath, setting the cloth alight and watching it fizzle down to the ground in little black sprinkles.

 

Each other followers encircles him, leaving a small gap at the front. Newt feels an uneasy feeling start to grow in the pit of his stomach taking partnership with the aching hunger that he’s started to become immune to now. He inhales deeply, but it’s more of a strangled gasp. Minutes tick by that feel like hours and slowly but surely a collection of wizards and witches start to materlisa within the room. Almost fifty seem to fill the empty spaces — a respectable amount considering that Grindelwald has been completely off of the grid for so long, and unable to personally preach to people to their faces. The room seems only half full to the capacity, but as the chatter amongst them dies down Newt assumes that nobody else is coming. He keeps his head down low and tries to focus on maintaining a calm level of breathing. But, then he hears a sea of cheers erupting from the crowd and his eyes eventually settle upon a fresh pair of shoes right before him.

 

His gaze trails slowly upwards to the man that is now gently hushing the crowd with a gesture, assuring to them that their applause is not for him but only for themselves.

 

 _“Grindelwald,”_ he whispers.

 

The dark wizard starts to address his audience, beginning a speech that will surely manage to seduce them into his open arms. Newt tears his gaze from the man’s back and focuses intently on the floor once again, his eyes flitting towards each follower that is concentrated in their leader for the moment as he delves into each of his clearly hidden ideals. “Now, Pick.” The wizard whispers for only his companion to hear, feeling the Bowtruckle emerge from his pocket and crawl up towards his shirt. The trustworthy creature dives underneath his coat collar and starts to tug at the clasp behind him, amidst Rosier handing Grindelwald a skull.

 

Each and every eye in the room is now trained on the vision above them; a vision of war, destruction and foreshadows of death. “But, you see… I do not annihilate the enemy. I spare them you see for they have wronged me without knowing my true desires to make this world a better place for us!” Grindelwald diverts his words towards something new, and at this very moment Newt feels his necklace slink off of his neck and into Pickett’s leaf-like hand.

 

The creature takes temporary refuge inside of the coat, using it as a tunnel to crawl down his owner’s back and reach Newt’s bloodied hands. “This is a wizard who tried to expose and betray me before I had a chance to call a proper talk with you all… before I had a chance to introduce more of you to my cause.”

 

Eyes are on Newt now, and he has to act carefully. Pickett drops the necklace from underneath the rear of the coat and the wizard grasps it before either follower or spectator can notice. They’re mostly paying attention to his face and when he looks up, the Magizoologist settles eyes upon a familiar face — Louisa is looking down at him from the crowd above, looking hurt as if he’s done wrong in her eyes. The wizard slowly counts to ten inside of his head, holding the necklace so tightly that he feels his palm begin to grow numb from the action.

 

_Nine… ten…_

 

+

 

Graves leaps up from his desk, startling Tina awake where she’d fallen asleep in one his guest chairs. “What is it?!” Her voice is still raspy; an insight into her lack of nighttime rest.

 

Her boss had left some Aurors behind at the houses and taken her back to his own residence, ordering her to try and get some sleep. The woman had refused and spent the night keeping watch with a handful of  her colleagues, only to feel more alone than ever and come morning there had still been no further sign of Newt. She had barely managed to shower and dress in new clothes; breakfast was completely out of the option due to the horrid feeling of nausea and at that point Percival took her sleep deprived self back to his office with the distinct promise that she’d be the first to know of any developments.

 

“His necklace,” he states, rolling up the cuff of his right sleeve and revealing that his matching bracelet is now glowing bright. The wizard waves his wand, summoning the group of Aurors that are under his order and the most advanced of the team. “We have one minute to get to his location now all hold onto me, Tina —“

 

“I’m comin’ with you!” She exclaims, getting to her feet and pushing the wave of dizziness to the far corner of her mind as she continues to walk around his desk. There’s much too little room for arguments and Graves cannot stop her so as each six Aurors join hands, Tina grabs onto one of their wrists at the last second and the eight of them apparate into the unknown.

 

Once their surroundings are solid and no longer a blur, each Auror looks around in slight terror; the dark wizard whom has evaded their grasps for so long is standing a few metres down below and Newt Scamander is directly beside him. “Now may you show no alarm in what I’m about to tell you and you must not react… but, Aurors are among us today.” Grindelwald’s tone echoes throughout the grey shaded room, causing a ripple of casts to spread.

 

Newt feels a minor weight tumble away from his shoulders as he looks up past the audience and then he sees _her_. And, Tina can see him too; she clasps a shaking hand harshly against her own mouth so as to prevent herself from calling out to him. “Come closer, brother wizards…” the dark wizard beckons, watching onwards as each Auror slowly begin to descend towards him.

 

Everything that happens next seems like a destructive hurricane; a domino effect of events that come forth. “These men have killed my followers, that is true.” Grindelwald continues, as Rosier moves toward Newt. She glances down at his hand and in one breath snatches his necklace from his enclosed fist, as a flash of green beams outward from the crowd.

 

“No!” The leader cries, his eyes now trained upon the woman who had prior drawn her wand and beckoned her own fate. Grindelwald moves into the crowd and crouches down beside her. “We will return this warrior to her family… you must tell everyone what happened here today — we are not the enemy, _they_ are. Go! Disapparate!” He orders his following, his voice traveling all the way through the air and aching Newt’s ears.

 

Clouds of smoke start to take the place of where the men and women here to show their support once stood, and one by one each follower disappears. Now only eight people remain across the steps and Tina is following the lead of her boss who’s edging inches closer to the end. “Grindelwald!” Graves exclaims, withdrawing his wand and emitting a bright, blue light. The dark wizard chuckles, using one hand to knock the man backwards whilst his other grips the Elder wand and begins to encircle himself and his followers in a set of blue flames.

 

Tina leaps towards the only gap left, apparating inside just seconds before her single opening closes. Her wand is held so tightly in her hand that her knuckles turn an unhealthy shade of pasty white and she defends herself against Rosier’s knockback jinx before it’s even traveled out of the woman’s wand. Each Auror matches up with one of the dark wizard’s followers, brandishing their wands within a dueling stance. With one final Auror not matching up with the number they’re up against he turns to assist his boss, another stream of light trying and failing to pierce through the protective flames. Slowly but surely each follower but one successfully manages to disapparate and escape their match, leaving Tina desperately fighting against Rosier.

 

The newly recruited Auror stands with fresh blood against her face in the way of Newt so that he cannot receive any hits from her jinxes. Every other Auror is now fighting their main target who waves the flames in their direction, and their deathly cries fill everyone’s ears. “We have to go!” Their second in command shrieks, his voice barely heard above the electric fizzles between each and every spell. Graves calls out his orders for them to retreat, his own wand still drawn and successfully diminishing each flame that tries to lap up his feet.

 

Rosier finally closes the gap between her and Tina, her mouth beginning to form the shape of an ‘a’ simply seconds before Percival turns from the man he’s been searching for so long and focuses all attention against saving his newest recruit’s life instead. “Avada Kedavra!” The man calls out with enough force that each word tears through his throat, and the woman crashes to the ground.

 

“Accio!” Tina exclaims, spying Newt’s confiscated wand tucked into the inner lining of her blazer. As Grindelwald turns with his wand raised and Graves counters his action with as strong a knockback jinx as he can, without hesitation Tina grabs onto Newt and disapparates, the both of them rolling through the dampened grass that is the exterior of the crypt. The Magizoologist is no longer bound to a chair, but the ropes still tie his limbs together as he lies motionless in the grass. The Auror who’s adrenaline is the single thing keeping her from collapsing out of exhaustion crawls desperately towards him, leaning down with fresh tears in her eyes. “Newt!” The brunette’s strangled cry is  barely loud enough for anybody to hear. “Wake up, please!” She reaches for her wand and releases him from his bounds, cupping his face with one hand.

 

A gasp emits from his painfully chapped lips, and Tina immediately et leaps up onto her feet. “I have to go back in there!” She exclaims. “I have to help Graves!” The woman feels a weakened yet surprisingly strong grip take her hand, and Tina turns around to see Newt barely able to sit up as he tries to stop her. She falls down to her knees, a sob shaking her weakened body.

 

“Newt, you gotta let me go!” Tina cries, swiping the back of her palms angrily up to each eye. “You gotta let me —“ her sentence is brought to an abrupt end after an enlarged flash of light engulfs the entire crypt, a swirled mixture of  orange and blue. The colours explode into a cloud that travels rapidly across the grass, leaving Tina no choice but to extend her wand again. _“Finite!”_ She yells with every last bit of strength she has left, diminishing the spell seconds before it engulfs the pair.

 

As the sea of lightening slowly seems into the grass and out of sit, Tina collapses against the floor beneath her. “I gotta go in there…” her speech begins to slur softly into the darkness as she closes her eyes and has no choice but to let it consume her.

 

+


	18. 02 Days Post Mission.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, this is the final chapter!! Thank you so much to everyone who has given me kudos and sent me lovely comments... I didn’t know this would get so popular,
> 
> Thanks again,
> 
> \- Sam :) xx (who knows... maybe a sequel will happen sometime in the future?)

+

 

**_Tuesday: Day 02 Post Mission._ **

 

Tina awoke from her previously unconscious state just under twenty for hours ago, but has been slipping in and out of her surroundings ever since. The nurses have been giving her around the clock care including healing potions and an IV line for the nutrients she’s been lacking from the last few days. The woman has slowly but surely regained the sleep that her body has been craving, and at precisely two o’clock the next afternoon as one of the sisters changes the dressing on her lower hip where she’d taken to a nasty gash from the duel… Tina Goldstein wakes up.

 

“Where’s Newt?!” She gasps, sitting bolt upright in the bed and scaring the poor nurse quite something as she jumps backwards. “Who… who got me here? Is Graves here? Where’s Grindel —“

 

“Ma’am, please lie down. Mr. Graves delivered you both two days ago before passion’ out himself… that dark wizard is not to be of your worries anymore.” The woman hushes her, waving her wand to complete the last finishing touch of securing a fresh new dressing after cleaning the area.

 

Tina feels as if somebody has lifted an entire set of heavy weights off of her chest. She feels a stinging senststionat the back of her eyes whilst she processes each piece of news, swings her legs out from underneath the thin blanket. “I gotta see Newt!” She exclaims once more.

 

“You need your rest,” the Nurse counteracts quickly, moving around the bed to try and calm her patient down.

 

The Auror scoffs, attempting at up despite the clear condition of her still fairly weakened health. “Sorry,” Tina apologises to the woman, a twang of guilt at the way she’s behaving causing her to pause. This newfound feeling is followed shortly after by an unfortunate wave of dizziness and Tina retreats back against her pillow. _Until…_

 

“Mr. Scamander! Get back here this instance!” A shrill tone pierces the air, causing Tina’s Nurse to hurry out behind the curtain. As the woman leaves, somebody bumps into the material that’s closing the patient off from the world and whilst two voices urge the newcomer to stop, he evades their wishes and uses his wand to tear his way through instead.

 

“Repairo.” Tina gets to her feet the second she lays eyes upon him, a tearful smile settling across her still slightly pale features. She gazes up at him and each of his injuries; a collection of tears traveling down her cheeks every time the brunette spies another bruise or cut.

 

The two nurses seem to be hovering outside of the curtain, their whispers a minor distraction as the two stare at one another from two metres away. Finally Tina steps forwards, not wasting a second in removing her IV and embraces Newt into a hug, burying her face into his shoulder as a sob escapes her body. “I’m so sorry,” her tired out voice becomes muffled by his shoulder, and the woman feels him tensing as he tries to mask his pain. She releases him from her grip, although he’d been returning it at the start with just as much overwhelming emotion as she’d felt herself; withdrawing to a more gentle touch when she began to cry, not wanting to hurt her as he gently began to rub circles against her back. Tina stands just inches away from him as he keeps his palm last against her, continuing to calm her with the comforting movements. “Sorry, did that hurt?” She whispers amongst a hiccup from the sobbing, and wipes at her eyes.

 

“It’s alright, you didn’t mean it.” He quietens her down, withdrawing his hand and reaching up to tuck a little hair behind her ear. “Tina…” Newt starts, trailing off for a moment or two. He takes her hand in his and ever so softly rubs his thumb against her deeply bruised knuckles and just above to where there’s a minuscule droplet of red from where she had removed the cannula. “I have to tell you something.” The wizard whispers, retrieving a ball of cotton wall and applying it gently to her hand.

 

Their eyes don’t leave the gaze of the others and she notices the clear glisten of tears that are appearing amongst his own. “I have somethin’ to tell you too,” a miniature giggle escapes her, and they both laugh a little afterwards, feeling the happiness physically pain them but not caring. “You go first.”

 

“Well, I’ve finally come to realise the unique quality about your eyes that I could not quite put my finger on before,” he explains, still not withdrawing the eye contact. “Tina, your eyes hold this look as if they’re fire against dark water and I have only ever seen that in salamanders. It’s… it’s _beautiful._ ” The wizard exhales, dropping his gaze back to their softly linked hands for a while.

 

Another tear droplet hits her pyjama shirt and Tina sniffs. “Newt, I read your journal and I’m so sorry for invadin’ your privacy like that but it was right after you’d —“ another sob interrupts her, and she feels him being her closer with one single arm. His chin rests carefully atop of head head as he whispers words of encouragement to her, ensuring his forgiveness. “We were supposed to be pretendin’ and… I think I fell in love. I love you, Newt.”

 

They both fall silent, not looking at one another for a minute. Tina looks up and is met with his eyes once more, but this time the tears that were trapped before are now falling down his cheeks as he watches her. “Tina… can I… I’d — I mean I would like to… would you oppose if I —“

 

“Kissed me?” She breathes out, only just about loud enough for him to hear. His little nod is all that she needs, and Tina slowly raises her trembling hand towards his cheek that holds a selection of various cuts and bruises scattered amongst the freckles. The brunette’s eyelids begin to flutter closed as she cups his face and leans up onto the tip of her toes, finally removing the gap between them as their lips meet.

 

The two of them share a kiss that could tell a thousand words; _I’m so glad you're okay, I’m so sorry that this happened, I’m so happy we’re safe._ Each person simultaneously breaks apart as if in slow motion, their eyes starting to open and mirroring grins beginning to form. “Tina?” Newt asks, almost breathless from their passionate yet caring embrace. “Can that count as our first kiss?” He asks. Bursting out into laughter the witch nods happily, her grin fully formed by now.

 

“And, Tina?” He continues, now the both of the, holding onto the others hands.

 

She blinks away her last few tears, letting him wipe them with his thumb. “Yes, Newt?” Tina asks.

 

“I love you too.”

 

+


	19. Sequel...

Two years into the future and Newt and Tina will soon return. I have yet to decide on a title but Faux Fiancés part two is coming!


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